On July 7, 2009 at 11:15AM I said goodbye to my best friend, mentor and role model.  

I was holding her as her head rested on my pillow when she took her last breath.  I could write on and on and make myself cry more and more but Momma would not approve.

After that moment is a blur of friends like Dixie Culbreath, Keith and Ginger Lynn who just happened to be at Roper Hospital at that moment.  I buried my face into their shoulders and cried.  God is so good to send those angels to Thomas and me.

Food, notes, funeral home, plans, tears, family trauma, hugs, more tears, laughter and memories.  Many of you know what I am talking about.

I stayed in Charleston for several days after the funeral to make sure the next business items were handled.  

Caroline and I were to fly to Phoenix for the National Speakers Association Annual Convention.  I thought about Caroline going alone since she is a Senior Youth Leader. But after receiving many emails from my Christian speaker buds, I knew to be on that plane.

Count your blessings, Jane.  

I had this statement on my heart for several weeks.
 
When sitting with my mother several days before she passed away, I received the email about Little Chalmers Carr.  I prayed for him and told my mother.  She was so upset for that dear young man.  

On Monday of the convention our speaker was named, Nando.  Some of you may recall the Rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes and the survivors had to stay alive for 72 days with no food.  Like Nando said, “When you have no food your mind shifts into another mode of survival.  

Without going into much detail, many of you remember what the survivors were forced to do.  It is documented in the movie, Alive!

It has been two weeks since the funeral and I just want to hear my mother’s voice again.  

The only way for me to survive is to remember to count my blessings.  

I had a wonderful, funny amazing mother.  I am blessed to be her daughter.  My conscience is clear and my memories clearer.

Thanks be to God.