Window Sill Memories

"Every morning lean thy arm awhile upon the window sill of heaven and gaze upon thy Lord. Then with that vision in thy heart turn strong to meet the day!" author unknown

Most read this quote and nod with affirmation, but when I discovered it this week - It awoke in me a very special memory that I wanted to share (and I wanted to hang on to.)

After my Dad's death in 1992, my Mother never again slept in their bedroom. She shared after 52 years of marriage it was just too lonesome. She was afraid she would reach over at night to pull the covers up over Daddy's back (like she did almost every night) but he would not be there. So it seemed easier to her, to just avoid the familiar setting.

Fast forward a few years to around 1998, I concluded that if I remodeled her bedroom - Took out everything and totally redid it - She would again be able to enjoy the it, instead of sleeping on the sofa. I set to task with wallpaper, paint, curtains and bedding, but was stopped in my tracks when I started to wipe down the door frames and window sills to ready them for the fresh, new paint.

Mother tearfully shared with me that she didn't want the dirty, greasy spots on the window sill erased and why. . .

My Dad would always wake up loud. "Hey, hey, hey" "Lets go, Lets go, Lets go" He was truly a bear (and in later life -a teddy bear). He hit the floor with purpose and did I mention - loudness!

Mother said in his last years of life, she noticed a change. For months, she would walk down the hall and find him awake and quite. He would be standing in their bedroom window, elbows perched on the sill and staring out. She went about her business for as long as you could stand it, and then one morning she just had to ask. "What are you doing, standing there in your underwear, gazing out the window?"

"Just watching for my Jesus" Dad replied, "You see He's coming from the East and I want to be ready when He comes!."

Even in his final hours at the hospital, he was posed on the window sill of heaven with a peaceful smile and a vision that extended beyond the ceiling of the ICU room.

My Daddy was strong and was ready and the spots remain on the window sill. (and my Mother still sleeps on the sofa).