#18. Women Need to Leave a Legacy

Someone near and dear to my heart experienced the gravest loss a couple of years ago, practically to the day. From what I have learned about his mother, not having the pleasure of knowing her personally, I am sure many hearts are heavy at this time. The last few weeks have been somber for obvious reasons; and I struggled with how to be available and sympathetic without suffocating him. Having lived through the death of a parent and my beloved grandfather, I know something about the feelings of separation and the irreplaceable void that permeates your soul. I also know that you occasionally need to be alone with your thoughts and memories in order to fill those spaces when the emptiness becomes too vast.

While determined to give him breathing space; I found myself searching for ways to not dwell on the infectious sorrow. Instead I began to marvel at the words written about his mother’s life and her compassion and service to those less fortunate. Isn’t that what we should do when someone passes? - Celebrate the life.

That energy led me to reflect on further wonderful women who had also lived with splendor - helping and unselfishly giving to others:

• Aunt Retha – the kindest, most loving, Godliest woman I have ever known. Although she never conceived children of her own; she was never child-less. A wife, a caregiver, a sister, an aunt. Everyone who knew her attempted to claim her as their living guardian angel. This woman’s prayers could reach heaven and she will be forever cherished in so many hearts all across the nation. How I miss her.
• Grandma Gussie – full of love, with a home that was always open to others. She was a wife and a mother who not only raised her children but her grandchildren. A good Christian woman who never spoke an unkind word against anyone.
• Shirley Francheville – an entrepreneur, a Godly woman, a nurse, an activist, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a friend. Her passion for women, and female entrepreneurs is sorely missed.
• Gladys Streater – my friend’s mother, gracious, hilariously down-to-earth, a mentor to the women who worked with her and for her, a Godly woman, a grandmother, a wife, a sister, a mother to her own and to others.
• Jade Hagins – a mover and a shaker, a leader, an adoptive mother, an educator, a sweet spirit, a Delta, a sister, dedicated to the empowerment of young girls in her community.
  

The women aforementioned died years ago but the affects of their lives live on. Their works will never be forgotten and the service they rendered extended far beyond the bonds of their flesh-and-blood. Are you living a life that would foster the same response? Am I? If not, shouldn’t we? Let us live so that men and women can celebrate. Let us feed the hungry, clothe the homeless, and protect the innocent. INTENTIONALLY - let us live deliberately seeking out others to bless and show the love of God, just as these women did. So that when, not if, but definitely when, we leave this world and cross over into the here-after, we will have left behind a legacy of memories so rich and pleasing, that they will fill the empty spaces in the hearts of those we touched.

Let us be salt and light in the earth while we still have breath.