Happy Birthday Mom!!!!! Tomorrow, March 2 2014, You Would Have Been 84! I Think You're Way Ahead!

My Mom, Barbara Thompson Baker who went Home to be with Jesus August 17, 2013, loved and lived this verse. It was her source of assurance, peace and purpose. For she shared the Love and Life of Jesus with everyone she met!

1 Corinthians 2:7-9 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written,”What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”

This made her a joy to be around and sometimes, let's be frank kids, an embarrassment. My youngest brother tells a story of leaving her alone for a minute while he paid a check and seeing her out on the sidewalk with a hairy looking guy on a motorcycle. Mom was in her mid to late 70's and Scott was a little nervous for her. He said, he should have been worried for the guy in the helmet because it was his day of reckoning! When he glanced over a second time, he found the fellow was crying. That was our mom for you. Always sharing the heart of Jesus with everyone she met.

She was such a delight. She had dementia by that time, but in so many ways was still very sharp. She had her Spirit working for her and her relationship with Christ was solid and never waned. She had some anxiety as part of her illness in her last years, but she never feared death. She knew that the Lord Jesus, her husband as she called Him, for she believed the believers, the beloved were the Bride of Christ...would call her Home one day and she would be with Him forever.

We all miss her so much, all of her kids, adopted and blood. She had a way of mothering and loving more than just her four that was so real. And we were happy to share her. There were testimonies at her Celebration of Life in August of 2013 from people whose lives she had impacted that blessed us so much!

There is not a day that goes by that I don't wake up and want to call her on the phone as was my habit. But, then I pause to commune with my Lord first thing and think my mom would have wanted it that way.

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go,
Even when he is old he will not depart from it. 

That was my mom's dad's (My grandfather's favorite verse). She learned it well and passed it on. Love you mom. And Thanks! xxoo Lib 

Bubsie Is On Her Biggest Adventure

Saturday night my mom Bubsie, Barbara Thompson Baker Embarked on her biggest adventure. She went Home to be with Jesus! This is one trip she had to make without me, because it's not my journey to make right now. I'm happy for her. I'm sad for me. For all she leaves behind. Her four children, of which I am the eldest, are left floundering without her sweet face to hold and her dear voice to hear and her wonderful laughter to make happen once again. We are left Happy/Sad. Happy because for many years Mom has said she was married to Jesus. That He was her husband, now that she and Dad were no longer married. And she is finally united with The Love of her life. Sad because she will be sorely missed by us and by all her life touched for all the rest of our days. Love you Mom, see you!

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Best Girlfriends Take a Saturday Drive

My mom is my best girlfriend. I found this quote for her and it made us howl with laughter:

“Maybe our girlfriends are our soulmates and guys are just people to have fun with.”
― Candace Bushnell, Sex and the City

We laughed all the way to the Dairy Queen when I picked her up that Saturday to take her for a drive. There is something so true, and so funny about the statement at the sametime. Mom and I are soul mates, we're girlfriends, we're mother and daughter and we're sisters of the heart and of the faith. We finally settled down because ordering ice cream is serious business and you have to have your wits about you! It was the first weekend in October and the end of ice cream season almost. Although, truth be told. we've been known to find a DQ open anytime anywhere! I ordered mom her medium twist cone and I had a small lime Mr. Misty float -- something I use to order when I was 16. We found a spot among some beautiful fall trees a block down from the Dairy Queen to have our ice cream -- and then headed down to Lake Harriet.

We found a lovely place to park and watch the sail boats:

We held hands and watched the boats and reminisced about mom's childhood summers and mine spent on the lake. We talked about the big party coming up the end of this month for mom's oldest grandson who was just that day getting married in Florida. We were all invited to their reception and my mom and I were anticipating the excitement of the big party.

Finally it was time to go back to her house. It was almost dinner time and the afternoon had flown by. When we got there we played in her room awhile. I put one of the scarves I had given her and a necklace I had made. We were like two girls playing dress up. My friend Dave Reynolds Skyped from British Columbia and my phone took the call since I was logged out of my computers. Mom and I both spoke to him and mom called him honey in the spirit of the day and because she immediately took to him. He was tickled! We had so much fun! We had one of the caregivers take our picture to mark the day. You can see the happiness, love and joy of this wonderful day together in our eyes and in our smiles! Love you all, honies! Bubsie and Lib

Sept. 11: Women's Hockey Scores Big With She Skates Minnesota

Sept. 11: Women's Hockey Scores Big With She Skates Minnesota

My Mom is Back!

Here is my mom and the four of us when she was in her 30's. I'm posting it because she is doing so well right now! And to think she's 81 and had a stroke or something in March! She is walking with a walker...and great at it. Her memory is as one would expect for someone who has had dementia for a while. Short term is very difficult for her. Our job is to make her present and beautiful as possible because that is where she lives. She and I had an outing last weekend and she asked me to write about it, which reminded me to write on our blog.

We went for a drive around some of the city lakes by her house: Lake Harriet and Lake Calhoun. Lake Harriet especially is so nostalgic. It's a stones throw from where I grew up. Such a beautiful day with a blue sky and white clouds. The water was so blue and there were sailboats on the lake! Mom and I stopped and parked and watched the sailboats and talked. We talked about God and our love for each other and gave thanks for Him. His goodness has permeated both of our lives. We are best friends, mother and daughter and also sisters in Christ! With my High School reunion the weekend before and that I my mind we spoke of the greatest reunion of all: Heaven. We talked about how fun it will be to spend eternity together...endless time for worship and fabulous conversations! Reunited with all old friends and family!

She thought it was smart of me to call Heaven the Grand Reunion. She is my biggest fan. I was raised by the praise method: constant uplifting reinforcement of her love for me and praise for good steps taken and accomplishments in life. What a treasure she is and a blessing to me! I will miss her so for the short time it will be between losing her and the Grand Reunion! Love you my dear mom! Libby

Mom's 81st Birthday And A Turn In The Road

My beautiful, wonderful, intelligent mom turned 81 two days ago. Unfortunately, she did it in a wheelchair barely able to speak, unable to walk. Two nights earlier she'd had some pain in the night. Maybe she fell, but how could she without anyone knowing and get up by herself? Was it a stroke? They don't think so. Perhaps it is just another step in her illness, a sudden decline rather than a gradual descent into immobility and inability to communicate. She's still trying though! Smiling and trying to make herself heard. Focus on her speech and force it out! Even talk on the phone with me a bit when I am not there. What a trooper. All I know is that I will miss her so much. Miss our long talks on the phone. Sometimes we talked for an hour. They got the residents their own line sometime after mom moved in. I liked to think we were responsible for it! :) What a beautiful mind and sense of humor. She is still there. That is the main thing. For how long I do not know. She still knows me and wants to talk with me and loves to hear me read to her and to especially tell her of our adventures! And my adventures out in the big world she loves so much. So, unless there's a change, my role will shift. Instead of living to be busted out of her confinement to explore the big wide world with me, I will bring the great big world to her!

Here is a picture of us taken at her birthday party: