Remembering Linda Walker

My mother, Linda Walker, died peacefully October 26, 2019.

Many thoughts crossed my mind as Mom endured her last days. She did it the same way she had lived. With joy, grace, and mercy. 

I’ve often said through the years that she would give the shirt off her back to a complete stranger in need. It was true. If visiting her house, you complemented a lamp, she would offer it to you. If you loved her favorite necklace, she’d gift you a similar one on your birthday. No doubt from Avon. On clearance. Just as she had bought her own. If you had a need, she likely had an item in her home or one of her garages for you. 

She was a lover of people. All people. It mattered not one’s shape or size, color or upbringing. She loved to meet new people. She wanted to hear their unique story and perspective as she shared her own. 

My mother taught me to crochet. A skill I have used my entire life to bless others whether it be a baby blanket to welcome a newborn or a shawl to hug the shoulders of a woman who was ill or had lost a loved one.

Read my blog Crochet Equals Productive Relaxation and how I learned to crochet.

Linda Walker wasn’t always angelic. Or perfect. But she lived every day with the desire to give God glory. Even to her last breath. 

She didn’t complain despite the crushed vertabrae and broken brittle bones that prevented her from standing upright. She didn’t complain each time she vomited after another attempt to eat. She didn’t fuss as she struggled each day embracing the inevitable. 

Of all the things I’ll remember about my mother, the thing that stands out the most is that she lived every moment for God. She wanted everyone around her to know that she was full of faith. God was with her. 

Even when her heart hurt because she couldn’t lift her grandkids and great-grandbabies into her lap and cuddle them like she once did. Or when her throat was just too dry to talk on the phone with distant loved ones. Or attend church, lifting her hands above her head in praise to the One who had redeemed her.

But when her body was weak, her Spirit failed her not. She spent her last bit of energy demonstrating the strength that only comes supernaturally. From the One whom she served the bulk of her life. 

Linda Walker left this world with grace, having done what she could, and saying all she knew to say to turn the hearts of those around her to the One who had transformed her life. 

My family and friends who knew her, say Thank you. For the role she played in teaching us to pray. For the love she demonstrated with arms outstretched. For the tears she cried and the money she gave when a need arose. For the care she always offered no matter the personal sacrifice. 

It was so hard to watch her suffer in her final days, but she did it with praise on her lips and gratefulness in her heart, knowing  that when her last breath was breathed, she would step into the Throne Room of God and be welcomed into the Presence of the One she had longed to know more her entire life. 

We are honored to call her wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, sister, and friend. And we are better because she was in our lives. 

Thank you for honoring her memory with me today. She would want you to know God loves you. Do you know Him personally? He gave His life so that you could live in freedom. Victory over this life. Not necessarily problem-free, pain-free, or perfectly in our fallen world. But through Him have life and have it more abundantly. 

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

John 10:10

I have peace knowing Mom is dancing in Heaven today. Pain-free. Full of eternal life. And joy.

For further study on grief and its effects on adults who’ve lost their parents, here’s a poignant article that expounds on the subject.

Have you experienced the death of a parent or have a fond memory of a loved one who has passed? Please share in the comments.

Be blessed, my friend, as we all wade through the sorrows and triumphs of this life. May you find joy in the One who loves you beyond comprehension.