Mondays With Mom...

After giving it some thought and talking with a friend last week. I have decided that I just can't not write about my Mom. Writing about her helps me remember the good stuff and keeps her memory alive. So, I have changed Monday Musings to Mondays With Mom. I'll be sharing my usual quotes from Monday Musings on Tuesday Tidbits. (Thank you Chris for the cute names! :) )

This week I wanted to share a treasure my sister and I found while going through Mom's personal items last January. I take a lot of comfort in these hidden treasures. It is a poem she wrote on ledger paper. You can see where she has added numbers on the side, no doubt figuring her finances out. (Mom worried about money a lot.) If she really felt what she has written here, she was truly rich...

When I'm no longer with you,

And peace has claimed my soul.

Gaze upon my paintings,

smile and you'll know.

As I placed each vivid color,

A brush stroke here and there.

The pleasure that it gave me

is far beyond compare.

A son strong and witty,

two daughters fair as spring.

I leave them with my paintings,

to ease the saddening sting.

I'd show that I had walked here

and fulfilled every dream.

A woman painting pictures

was not quite what it seemed.

No one could know the way it

calmed my heart

and satisfied my mind.

To sign a finished painting

for someone else to find.

So gaze upon my pictures

and know deep in your being,

"She lived a blessed and happy life

for she left me all these things."

                              ~B.A.W.

I mostly have pictures. Many of the paintings have were sold or given away before she passed. I hope they bless the recipients beyond compare.