Aunt June went to Margaret's house today. She was diagnosed with uterine cancer about 3 years ago, went through treatment and was declared cancer free, until recently. It came back in September with a vengeance attacking her colon and kidneys. The prognosis was poor so June decided to go the no more treatment route. Beacon Hospice has been treating her at her sister's house since that is her closest relative and she couldn't stay by herself. I have prayed that she would be relatively pain free and handle her...how do I say this...impending death with peace. We felt blessed to have her for Thanksgiving and then it began to look like we would have her for Christmas as well. Thankfully we did. However, it doesn't look like she'll be sharing in the Easter festivities with us. It's funny or sad rather, how you take people in your life for granted as if assuming they will always be there. June has lived in Van, Texas since she was a little girl and everybody knows her. Which really isn't very hard since Van is so small. Small as in one grocery store, one Dollar Store and no Wal-Mart. She was "challenged" while growing up, but did graduate from Van High School which she was very proud of, as were her parents. She never learned to read or write, was very large and couldn't talk plain. She was never fashion conscious, never had a boy friend, never traveled, never drove...there were a whole lot of nevers. As an adult she lived at home with her parents until her father's death and then continued with her mom. She worked in the school cafeteria, went to church, listened to the bible on tapes, helped around the house, played Wahoo with her mother in the evenings, and said her prayers at night. Eventually her mother died, she retired after many, many years in the cafeteria, she went to church, listened to her tapes, cleaned house as little as possible, and said her prayers at night. Sounds kind of boring doesn't it? This is the amazing part. She was, no is, one of the most content people I have ever known. She was so happy with her common ordinary life. And did I mention that she said her prayers at night? When Steve and I first got married, we would go to Van often to spend the night with Mamaw and June. He loved Mamaw's cooking almost as much as he did his mamaw and she certainly loved him, her first grandson. June doted on him too, hugging him constantly and calling him "her little knobhead." Their house was on pier and beams with the old wood floors that resonated every sound. At night, when every one was tugged in to bed with all the "I love you's" (yes, just like The Waltons) June would start to say her prayers...out loud, speech impairment and all. She blessed everybody. Wow, this blew me away. I had never heard such a thing. That was always private when I was growing up. We never talked about God, let alone Jesus! Here June was talking to him, blessing us all and not the least bit embarrassed as it echoed down the hall. Through the years she continued to stand in the gap and be the true prayer warrior. Who can say how life might have been differently had it not been for June's prayers? I know she never forgot to "God bless Clay, Blake & Katie" as they grew up. For that, I am eternally grateful. You know the part about her not joining in our Easter festivities? I can only imagine celebrating the risen Lord with the risen Lord himself!! Now that's a party! A few weeks ago I asked June if there was anything I could do for her to make her more comfortable. She had only one request. "Don't let them forget me" she whispered.
Because He lives I can face tomorrow
Because He lives all fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living just because He lives
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