I wrote this to read at Mom’s memorial service. Her Heavenly Birthday was September 16. I found my copy of the poem in a stack of papers almost a year to the day since her passing. Several tears were shed when I realized that Dad’s Heavenly Birthday was the day I found Mom’s poem. Mom’s was on September 16 and Dad’s was on September 24.

Such a wonderful dream last night
Hope I get back there tonight
I saw Mom in her heavenly home
A really big house, bright but old
Like she always wanted
Like I was sometimes told
The yard is full of things in bloom
Plants are tall, or short, pale or bold
A big porch wraps round to the side
Filled with wicker to sit on or glide
And the inside, it was done just so
In every room Mom’s things are placed
Photos, quilts, lamps and china plates
No longer broken, given or lost
Her favorite things restored at last
The smell of baking bread took me away
To the best kitchen I ever did see
A kitchen here? I asked myself
This is heaven, so it must be right
Counters and cabinets, not too much or too few
Appliances gleamed, even whiter than snow
So Mom’s cooking in Heaven, but really for who?
Then I heard voices from outside the house
Now rumbling loudly, so many at once
As they came in, I knew them, the whole big bunch
Family far and near, neighbors, friends,
Church people, farm people, and the milkman
They’re gone from my life, many gone for years
Here visiting with Mom in her angel-made home
They’re swapping stories and jokes, talking all at once
In her house in Heaven, Mom is doing what she loved
And the best part I found out while company talked on
No dirty dishes in Heaven, so she cooks all she wants
Happy Heavenly Birthday, Mom

Anna, 2021