My sister Cindy loved our family. Since each of us kids departed for college, we had not all lived in the same place. Greg left home first and headed to Tulsa to attend Oral Roberts University. Cindy headed south to Lakeland, FL to attend Southeastern College. A few years later, I also left for Tulsa and ORU. After graduation, both Greg and I remained in Tulsa. Cindy, on the other hand, lived all over; first in Louisiana, followed by Indiana, Ohio, Mississippi, Colorado and Florida. Dad and Mom relocated to Tulsa after Dad became ill.
Together again
Six years ago Cindy moved to Tulsa. Her two oldest kids, Dan and Rebekah, were out of the house and Rex, her youngest, was headed to Tulsa to attend ORU. Cindy was needing a fresh start so she moved in with Mom and became my neighbor. Cindy had no idea the challenges that were ahead, but she was glad to be near Rex and her extended family.
For the first time in our adult lives, all of the family was back in the same city. And though we were together, things were different now. Dad had gone on to be with the Lord. Greg’s family had grown exponentially, with weddings and babies adding many new members to the family. My kids were at the end of their high school years and launching lives of their own. Rex was in the young adult years of graduating college and launching a career. Rebekah was in Hong Kong on missions and Dan was falling in love. Life was full and there was much going on.
Gathering
Cindy loved being close to Rex, watching him prosper and excel, and she loved being with Mom and near the rest of the family. In fact, she couldn’t get enough and dreamed of gathering us all together on a more regular basis. She hoped we would gather routinely for a shared meal and to share our lives. Recently, her dream came true but not in the way she imagined.
You see Dan was diagnosed with ALS back in 2014 and passed less than a year later. During that time, Rebekah came home from Hong Kong to help care for Dan. Dan’s father, Brian moved to Bartlesville near the end to help with his care. Cindy made the trip to Bartlesville multiple times every week to spend time with Dan and to help care for him. The rest of the family made regular trips to be with Dan before he passed. I spent more time with Dan that year than any other time in my life.
A year later Cindy was diagnosed with the same illness. The family was overwhelmed and heart broken. Yet, once again, Rebekah, Brian, Rex, Mom and all the family joined together and cared for Cindy. We hired caretakers. We pitched in as we could with errands, meals, and visitations. The Berg family and Mom did the heavy lifting while the rest of the family was there for support and to provide what help we could.
Cindy left us to be with Jesus a few weeks ago. The family gathered together on the night of her passing. It was a somber and solemn night yet the peace of the Lord was in Mom’s house where we were gathered. We all were able to say our goodbyes and express our love and affection to Cindy. Though Cindy was tired and ready to go home, I know her heart was full as we were all together, just as she had hoped and dreamed.