“Congratulations, Mrs. Smythe!” they said to Jean.
“Thank you, honey,” she would say with a smile.
It was how Jean greeted each guest as they came by—not using anyone’s names unless Donna told her who they were. Donna’s mother didn’t remember them. She didn’t know why she was here. She barely knew who Donna was.
Jean had dementia. Over the past three years, her condition had deteriorated. Jean had always dreamed of her granddaughter Lauren’s wedding day. But at this point, Jean didn’t recognize Lauren anymore.
As the reception went on, Jean sat quietly, smiling but not joining in the merriment. Then Lauren was ready to make her entrance, and the DJ announced her as the bride. Donna glanced at her mom. Jean was crying! “Mom, are you okay?” Donna asked, thinking Jean was in pain.
“I never thought I’d live to see Lauren’s wedding day,” Jean said. Donna was stunned. Her mom actually knew where she was! “Her clarity was amazing,” Donna says. Jean even joined the family later on the dance floor. Though Jean’s awareness didn’t last, Donna never forgot that moment of lucidity.
“It was exactly what I needed,” Donna says. “I wanted to share this with her, and I got that. I felt as if I had my mom back.”
Denne historien er fra Apr/May 2020-utgaven av Mysterious Ways.
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Denne historien er fra Apr/May 2020-utgaven av Mysterious Ways.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Ivy Dishes
“My mom found a house for us to look at,” said my fiancé, Jon. “It’s in Richfield, not far from where I grew up.”
The Duet
“Can you perform a hymn for us next week?” my pastor asked me after Sunday service.
The Girl in the Dream
Was this a church? The high, vaulted ceilings made it seem like one—almost but not exactly.
News From Around Our Wonderful World
Liverpool, England Joanne Carr is hailing her son, Dougie McInerney, as her guardian angel.
A Light in the Blizzard
I stepped on the gas and shifted into drive, then reverse, then back into drive again.
Straight From the Fish's Mouth
Florence, Italy. I’d been there before on one of those scruffy five-dollar-a-day youth-hostel jaunts through Europe, but now, just graduated from college, I was wondering what to do with my life.
Divine Callings
Have you ever felt called to a purpose?
Dad's Voice
As I reached to turn off the lamp on my bedside table, my eyes fell on the card my brother Isaac had given each of us siblings on what would have been Dad’s sixty-eighth birthday.
Ben's Answer
It was midafternoon, and I was already curled up on the couch in the living room with no plans to move.
A Doll's Hat
My fears around the surgery built all day.... God, please let me be as strong as my young patients are.