Vernabelle

 

 

 

Verna was always an unusual name to me, and when I remember her now, her name perfectly fits.  After having my brothers, I came along to her when she was 44 years old.  To me she was the 50’s Mom icon, she wore a crisp dress and apron, with nylon stockings and cinnamon brown shoes everyday as she went about her household duties of cooking, cleaning and washing.  Meals were always homecooked, rarely did we ever go out to a restaurant or for a MacDonald’s burger. 

 As a pastor’s wife, she was also the gifted pianist.  She chose to sit on the piano bench with a hymnal book underneath her to raise her up.   She could easily play by ear, and change keys of any song or hymn.  She was a proficient typist, and worked part time the year my Dad went to grad school.  She typed his master’s thesis, and many years later did his doctorate thesis as well.   I never saw her in a pair of pants until she went horseback riding on a summer vacation, and borrowed a pair of mine.  We went shopping together for her first and only swimsuit, when she agreed to try out our jacuzzi when visiting me in California.    

But what I  cherished most about her, was her constant love and prayer for me; always there to give a hug, a smile, an encouraging word, (usually a Scripture verse) or just to express thanks for some very small thing I may have done.  As I started out as a very insecure Nurse Practitioner, she would always remind me that each day at 2 pm she would pray for me as I began the afternoon of patients.  Mom showed me how to live gracefully as life moves on; love without reservation, be grateful for all that you have been blessed with, and be adaptable to changes and new opportunities.  Don’t let fear or the “what if’s” of life stand in your way, instead trust God.