The Glory of Autumn

I love this time of year, when the season begins its gentle transition from summer to autumn. The days are noticeably shorter, the nights cooler. The sun is still warm, yet a cool breeze moves through the air, and somehow, the sky seems even more blue.

With each gentle breeze, a few leaves begin to fall, creating subtle splashes of color here and there, scattered across the damp earth.

Soon, the leaves will paint my world with the brilliant colors of the Sugar Maple, Japanese Maple, and Red Maple—splashes of red, orange, yellow, and pink—revealing the magnificent glory of autumn.

I can’t help but associate this season with my Momma’s dying days.

For the past several weeks, perhaps even months, she has expressed so much love and gratitude. In precious moments with each of her children, the sweetest words emerge. Compliments and kindness pepper our visits, as though this is the time for her most glorious beauty to reveal itself.

She is as beautiful to me now as the most colorful days of autumn.

Even the leaves, in all their glory, can remain on the trees for only so long. Eventually, one by one, each leaf lets go.

Oh, there are some stubborn ones that remain well into winter, hanging on even after their brilliant colors have faded to brown. But in time, even those leaves must surrender and let go.

And yet, their story does not end there.

The fallen leaves return to the earth, nurturing the soil as nature rests in the slumber of winter, quietly preparing for the renewal of spring.

This is how I see and feel this time in my mother’s life—and in the lives of her children who are walking beside her.

She has shared her beauty.

She has shared her love.

She has shared her glory.

And now, she is slowly letting go, breath by breath, until one day she breathes her last.

Those of us who love her will carry something of her with us. We will take the love she has given us and, I hope, live as better versions of ourselves because she was here.

Her glory will continue to shine through us as we carry her love into the world and nurture those around us.

And every autumn, when the air turns cool and the leaves begin their magnificent transformation, I will remember.

I will remember the sacred significance of her passing during this season.

I will remember the beauty of surrender.

And in the glory of autumn, I will remember her Love.