One week ago my younger brother Chris went home to be with the Lord.
For the previous few days, his wife Sharon and their three daughters, took turns to hold Chris’ hand. Chris was always very good at expressing affection and love.
10 minutes before he passed, my older brother John (whom I wrote about recently in The High Sheriff blog) arrived at the home, and the ‘baton’ was passed to him.
John, Chris and I attended the same Primary school, High school, and Medical school. We even did our first year of doctoring in the same hospital!
John has been a great “older brother” for both of us, so it was, in daughter Jenny’s words “beautiful”, that our gentle shepherd should orchestrate it that it was Dr John , and not Chris’ nursing wife or two doctor daughters, that would take his hand at the end and detect that the earthly heartbeat had stopped, and that Chris had left this realm to enter that ‘greater ‘reality’
When I shared with our grown children, Ben texted, “Sorry Dad. He was a beautiful man and a beautiful brother. And still is.’
Our mother had a profound influence in the lives of all three of us.
I recalled how the day before I flew home to journey with her through a similar exit strategy (renal failure) I went for a run through the woods. As I was pondering Psalm 139 I noticed a golf ball on the path in front of me. Picking it up, I read, “Taylormade”
Psalm 139 speaks about how each of us are ‘knit together’ in our mother’s womb and ‘woven together’ in the depths of the earth. Our Heavenly Father truly is The Master Taylor.
He whispered to me, ‘Not only did I tailor make, Anna, but Anna tailor made the Kyle family ……as mother’s do😉’
I ran the same path the day before going back in March to see Chris. It turned out to be the deepest ever connection we had as brothers.
Along the snow trodden path where the golf ball had lain, I noticed what looked like a trail of leaves leading upwards…….as if left by someone who had gone ahead……like my Mum and Dad, saying, “This is the way. It’s OK. Relax.”
I shared this story with our friend Jane Lockhart with whom we stayed in Belfast. She smiled and said, “Reminds me of a dream I had that I captured in a piece of art. Did you notice it in the bathroom?’
Mum had a wonderfully healing touch and when Chris would have a ‘sore tummy’ she would say ‘Let me give your tummy a rub.’ As she laid her healing hands on our tums, she would say in her firm but reassuring voice, ‘Now. Relax.’
We would laugh at how little Chris would then ask, “Are I alaxing now mummy?”
Invariably after a few minutes, the pain had passed.
Chris now has ‘relaxed’ into the arms of his perfect heavenly parent, along with his mum and dad, and no doubt, the pain has passed…….and the joy……..been made full.
P.S. In the second part, which I will post tomorrow, I will explain more fully the opening photograph.🙂