I recieved the most wonderful gift today. My sister in law Patty, sent a package to my parents house. Inside were many of my big brother's most treasured possesions...
His winter fireman's coat... leather saddlebags from his Harley... several of his leather riding coats... chaps... and a raggedy t-shirt that means the world to me...
A couple weeks before my brother died, we got matching tattoos... when it was my turn to get inked, i realized i was going to have to rip apart my shirt to get it to go down around my waist so i could get tatted up... it was either that or disrobe completely, and being the big brother that he was, TJ was absolutely not letting me take my top off! So he gave me the shirt off his back and ripped out the shoulder and basically turned it into a tube top for me... when he passed away, more than anything, I wanted that shirt. It symbolized so much to me... how loving he was, how giving, how silly, how protective of me as his baby sister... I needed that shirt.
Two years, and many many tears later, I have the shirt. I could feel Jesus wrapping his arms around me as I pulled that shirt out of the box. Have you ever felt that? That feeling is indescribable...
I grabbed one of his favorite leather coats and ran my fingers over the dirt and mud... I put my hands in one of the pockets and felt something... then as if to tell my daddy how much he loves him- out fell my brother's purple bandana... still stinky and crumbled up and tied perfectly to fit around his head... wow. My mamma and daddy just hugged each other tightly and sobbed.
My dad put on one of my brother's coats and nearly collapsed with emotion... I held my daddy as we both wept... there were some tears of sorrow- but there were many tears of joy- and tears of relief- but mostly there were tears because God is sovereign- and He gave us a gift today that will have a huge part in healing this family... finally.
To Patty: Thank you so very much for sending that box. It means everything to us. I will be forever grateful to you for parting with those items...
No comments:
Post a Comment