Today, I saw the movie, Les Miserables. Though the stage play touched me deeply, this experience seemed more stirring somehow. Watching the character’s emotional reactions up close in panoramic, digital clarity left me shaken. Moved. I cried all my makeup away – not a good look. It has been six hours since l exited the film and still, it is with me. That’s good story, folks.
Heading home, the beauty of love’s impact on a life, on many lives, curled around my heart like a mist and rested there. How many of us have the opportunity to change a life through God’s forgiveness and selfless love? All of us, I should imagine.
I thought of people who had forgiven me. Who had loved me, though I’m often unlovely. And right away, my thoughts settled on my mother.
My sweet, ninety-three-year-old mother who has dementia and remembers little, except that she loves me. The lady who inspires friends not seen for years to say, “Cathy! Good to see you. How’s your dear mother?”
My mother at ninety.
Day after day, year after year, my mother dwells in grace. Her kindness is an offering and her smile a blessing. Along with Jean Valjean, she loves with a Godly love that changes lives. She has changed mine and continues to do so.
May God grant her more pages in her story. Like Les Miserables, it’s a good one. And I’m reading it right to the end.
Crafting Mysteries & Suspense 