Dedication
I dedicated Joy in the Journey in celebration of Mother’s Day to my mother and to my birth mother.
I honor my birth mother who gave me life . . . who gave me her ultimate gift of unconditional love by giving me up for adoption when she realized from her heart that she could not give to me the life she wanted me to have. My birth mother is the only person whose heart I have heard beating from the inside. Through all of my years, I have felt her heart beating within me . . . I have felt her love within each heartbeat . . . a heartbeat that will live in me forever.
I honor my mother! Seventy-four years ago she adopted me and for the rest of her life filled my life with wonder . . . with joy . . . with determination . . . with strength, courage, faith in God . . . with hope . . . and a love that never failed . . . a love that filled my soul with the joy of living! I thank God for finding her for me . . . for all the years that we shared a beautiful life together . . . for her walking with me throughout my life . . . and for my being able to walk with her on her long journey home. Mother lives within me and through me and always will. I will always miss her beautiful smile . . . her gentle voice . . . and most of all the tender touch of her hands that brought comfort to all of my days. Thank you, Mother, for the wonderful world you created for me . . . turning the ordinary into the extraordinary!
On this special day, Mother’s Day, I thank my mother for her dream for my life . . . the dream of me becoming an author. I thank our good and gracious God for the opportunity of walking hand in hand . . . heart to heart with Mother through Alzheimer’s, for through that walk, Mother’s dream for my life came true with the publication of Joy in the Journey . . . Walking With Grit and Grace Through Alzheimer’s. It was a painful journey . . . a journey of loss . . . a journey of forgiveness and redemption . . . a journey that brought untold blessings into my life . . . a journey that brought joy to my journey and changed my life forever.
Mother, our hearts will always beat as one and I will always cherish the gifts our journey gave to my life. I will always live in the Joy in the Journey we shared . . . through all of our years together.
Happy Mother’s Day from my heart that holds the love of two beautiful souls within it forever.
Take Joy in the Journey with you and listen in the car, at the doctor’s office, on your back porch . . . the audiobook can go anywhere!
