A Tribute for Harriett

She has her wings and flying high among the supple clouds.  Suffering is now an illusion of yesterday where physical sorrows overtook her gentle soul.  The bondage of her bed is no more and the spasms that shudder her spirit, vanishes to a distant memory.  She is now rising above her own expectations.  Moving onto a spiritual realm where an abundance of love reigns supreme.

It’s easy to be saddened with grief because it’s human.  God gives us that emotion to cleanse the burden from our soul.  Those tears are our comfort as if it’s HIS way of saying, it’s going to be okay—I’m here. 

Yet, I know tears are only a small part of it. She’s at a place that’s greater than the imagination.  It’s a place many live day by day on this earth to venture when we take our final breath.  All of our questions we’ve asked about life are mundane compared to the magnitude of what lies ahead. Life shouldn’t be about a timeline, we should live it with full of zest as if any day will be our last day like my mother, Harriett Wisdom. 

The American poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson says, It is not the length of life, but the depth. My mother was a prime example of how she lived within the depths of her life.  She may not have lived with all of her working limbs, but she knew in fact how to live.  She knew how to push the depths of her life by learning to love what was around her, appreciating what she still had.  What she accomplished during her life; such as, her college degrees, winning the 1976 High School Sectional Championship as a coach, and her family could not ever be taken away.  Those memories are imprinted in our hearts and stamped with her love. 

Now that she went home to be with her father, Harry and her younger sister, Niecy and the rest of her family who had gone before her, it’s understandable for all us wishing she could stay a little longer by sharing another laugh, sitting at her bedside watching a football or basketball game, or just simply calling her on the phone to hear her voice once more. 

I, for one, I want to hold on to that selfishness and wrap it around my mother, holding onto her until the Angels in Heaven fly down and pry her from my arms. That egocentricity is as natural as the air we breathe.  Though, I also know that we have to let go and let God. Acceptance is indeed a part of life.

After years of not being able to walk, she taking her steps on Zion’s Road or some may call Paradise to discover her earthly purpose. So while we’re shedding tears with heavy hearts, my mother is beginning her journey toward eternal bliss.  Her example of tenacity and courageousness will lie within our hearts forever. It will never wane.

So, momma, there are no goodbyes only infinite hellos.  Have a happy journey and we will see each other someday.  Hopefully, I’ll have plenty of new stories to tell you.

Me and my mom

Love always your daughter,

Imani Wisdom

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