The Gucci Bag
It was a serious and solemn time for us—the end of my mother’s life on earth. She had tried every drug and therapy known at the time to kill or stave off the cancer, but to no avail. As it ravaged her body, she became unable to walk, even with the assistance of a walker. She had been such a fighter, but now she was telling us she was ready to leave this earth, and that God was waiting for her. She didn’t care what we did with her “stuff.” She made some suggestions and said she wanted to go “home.” She had no regrets with her life.
We began what can only be called a “death watch.” We soon settled into a schedule whereby my brothers and husband took turns staying with Mom at night, and my mother-in-law (a retired nurse) and I stayed with her during the day. Movement was excruciating, so we repositioned her only to reduce the bed sores. She had a morphine drip for the increasing pain. Going to the bathroom became an exhausting and painful chore, so she was catheterized.
Mom began to separate herself from her earthly life, speaking less and less. She began dreaming or talking to people who had passed on before her. When she did speak, it was in short sentences or words. On one such occasion, she woke up and began pulling on her catheter tube, trying to pull it out. The chemo nurse, Linda, now a friend of my mother’s, was staying on to assist us in her hospice care. Linda took my mother’s hand and said, “Gloria, leave that alone. It’s your Gucci bag.” My mom opened her eyes and peered down at the bag, and then straight into Linda’s eyes. “Well, darling, if that’s my Gucci bag, then it had better match my outfit because God’s waiting for me!”
My mother was dying just as she had lived: embracing life and death with love, faith and a sense of humor!
I realized that this life was merely a stepping stone to eternity with the Father. Earthly things could not compare with the riches that await us in heaven. May we remind ourselves to let go of the need to accumulate “stuff” on this planet and to value those things—humor, love, faith, and trusting in God— and carry those things with me as I journey home to eternity.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16–18
Thank you for reading my post. If you have found it encouraging please consider liking, commenting or sharing it. Feel free to even re-blog – may these words take flight!
I have additional insights I’d love to share with you found in the pages of my debut book: Surviving Medical Mayhem – Laughing When It Hurts. To order a copy or learn more go to my website at www.lorettaschoen.com
Blessings for Health & Wellness.