Two Years in Heaven

 

As of today my brother has been in Glory for two full years. In some ways the grieving process has been similar to what I went through when my mom passed away in July 2016, and in other ways it has been different. The time of shock with my mom came with her diagnosis of stage four cancer about 6.5 months before she died. Although saying goodbye to her was one of the hardest moments of my life, I actually had been praying for the Lord to take her home and bring her suffering to an end. I would have thought my mom would live past the age of 71, but still her life was a little more than twice as long as Maurice's life. With Maurice the shock was receiving the phone call from the police that his body had been found. There was no opportunity to say goodbye. Although I was closer to my mom and spoke to her more regularly over the years, I had always loved my brother very dearly and had become closer to him following our mom's passing. In both instances, the intensity of the grief and loss has diminished over time as I've adjusted to the new normal of life without a mom and then life without a brother. Even though I don't cry nearly as often in response to missing them, there are still times when I grieve their absence in my life. For example, recently I've had nightmares related to Maurice's passing. I take great comfort in the knowledge that they are in a MUCH better place and that I will see them again some day. 

I saw this video (above) a couple of months ago and decided to share it today. Some money was given in Maurice's honor to AVA, the school where he taught in Brazil. They used the money to greatly improve the entrance to the school. The first time I saw the video I cried when they showed the stone with his name on it.  It took almost two years for me to start reading a book called Imagine Heaven that Margie sent me shortly after his passing. At his funeral they shared a clip from a sermon Maurice gave years before. It was more than I could handle to hear his voice at that point, and I have to say two years later I still am not ready to hear his voice, but in general I have come a long way over the past two years in processing this loss. I miss my brother very, very much. I really miss talking to him. I miss his hugs. I wish my kids could have had more years with their Uncle Maurice, but we'll just have to wait until we're reunited some day. I also find comfort in knowing that my Mom and Maurice are together. When life seems to be going in a crazy direction down here on earth, I find myself wishing the Lord would return ASAP, which would also speed up my reunion with my mom and brother.