Mum

When I heard the news
I buckled at the knees
I saw you yesterday
Smiling bright as I turned away

When I saw you smile at me
Didn't know it was the last time
Smiling through a veil I couldn't see
Full of grace and heavenly

Phoned you just last night
Asked how to make gravy
Today I see the loaves of bread
Made specially for me

Wanted you to know
The gravy turned out fine
Wanted you to know
The bread tasted divine

I wrote this last year for my mum who died in November 2000. The last time I saw her was when my Dad took her Communion at the nursing home (he was a Special Minister). Afterwards I felt something I can't describe, a distance between us, as though she were already beyond this world. I didn't understand until afterwards, early the next morning when I heard she had died. I think what I felt was the grace of God perfected in another human at that moment, after receiving the body of Christ. It was a foretaste of heaven, and despite the pain I felt later, it was so very, very good. I have felt the exact opposite as well, but that is another story.