Sometime after Mom and I moved into our duplex in Kerrville, I got up on a Sunday morning and took myself to church. Mother hadn’t been a regular church-goer since well before I was born, and wasn’t interested in going then, either. Ellen, my friend from work, and I met that Sunday morning at Unity Church of the Hill Country. I never actually joined the church and only attended a few times, but I did pick up a copy of Unity’s monthly devotional magazine, Daily Word. I subscribed a short time later, and now have gift subscriptions going to my daughter, a good friend, and soon to my son and his wife. (Surprise, Josh and Sarah!)

I decided to go through my desk this weekend to try to clear out clutter, etc., and thought that my 7+ year stash of Daily Word could finally go to the library donation store. But first, I would go through and make a list of the daily affirmations that still resonated. I’m up to November 2010, and have 18 pages so far. Double-spaced, but still. Even time-travelling back to where I’ve been, almost every devotional and affirmation speaks to me.

The May 2009 issue is how this clearing-out became a blog post. Esther Koch‘s short essay, Creating Moments of Joy, talks about her gratitude in caring for her mother for the last 10 years of her mother’s life. One passage jumped out at me:

Although cognitive ability might decline with age, one’s capacity to feel does not. Even severe dementia is interspersed with moments of clarity. Knowing this, I never felt I could say “I love you” too often to Mother. My favorite response from her was “I know you do.” She always said it with full clarity and emotion.

And that’s where we are. Mom sometimes forgets the names of things or how to say exactly what she’s needing help with. And sometime we argue about socks. But she knows that I love her and that she loves me.