The Melinda Parade

At 11:30 this morning my mother, Melinda Williams, entered into rest. I never thought it would end so soon; I'll never understand how she deserved this. But what I want to do right now is tell you what I've learned: about who my mom was, is, and will always be.

My mom was a warrior, and I never knew it until now. It really hit me when I saw her there on the hospital bed, barely breathing, eyes unfocused, body depleted, head hairless , mouth bleeding. She was nearly unconscious, and I asked her the dumb question, "Mom... how are you?" You know what she told me? She said, "Blessed. I'm blessed. God is good. He's blessing me." It was right then that I thought about how brave, how strong, how determined my mom was. I grew up in an environment where religion was frowned upon. It was my mom who decided that wasn't good enough for me and my sister. And she moved us from that amid the frowns of tradition and gossip.

It was my mom, when the family was bickering, that stood as a neutral ground and loved everyone wiht a spirit of unity. And all the years she spent in the school system changing lives... One of my mom's students from wwaaaaaaayyy back sat right there in the hospital with her from start to finish.

It hurts me that, in spite of the good she did, she never saw the best of things. She wasn't there to see it that night when my older cousins got together with me and my little sister and we all sat at a table together for the first time in years; she wasn't there when my dad came to me and my sister and told us "I love you"; she wasn't there when her side of the family and my dad's side of the family finally reunited. She was the reason for all these things, and now she won't be around to enjoy it... Why does it always take tragedy to make us put our pride behind us?

So now, there's me and my litle sister. And I'm determined that between us we will carry on her legacy. She fought to glorify God in her lifestyle; she fought to teach love to all and to be a living witness to the power of love; she fought to pass her faith and her love to her children. I am a love warrior because she was a love warrior, and I never realized it until her final battle. And I am determined to keep her legacy alive at all costs.

So this is a Parade for you Ma. We will celebrate you until we join you.