At 92 She Retired Hurt

byRussellO1

1.5K followers

Updated 6 years ago

She batted well. She entered the wicket in 1926, a few years before the great depression that hit most of the world.

In spite of the vicious bowling and excellent fielding, she defended her wicket until at 92 she retired hurt.

My mummy

I came into her life in her fourth decade at the wicket. By then things were looking up and she had had three children before me. She had met and married my Montserratian father some ten years prior.

One thing I learned early about my mummy was that she had and extraordinary love for the Lord Morning and sometimes evening worship was a daily part of our life. She made it interesting and up to today I love and respect her for that.

She was also a no nonsense but very loving mother. She knew the direction that she wanted her children to go and she pointed us towards it. As a mother hen, she was very protective of us but was not afraid to flog us if she felt that it was warranted. Today, most parents confuse abuse with physical discipline. I thank God that my mummy knew the difference and always applied the discipline when necessary.

Her major defensive and offensive shot against aggressive bowling was prayer. She knew that no bowler could beat her bat as long as she appealed for divine help. And she taught all of us to use it too. Today, as I bat my own inning, it has become my go to shot that has bailed me out of many unplayable situations.

She was my father's main support, helping in every project that he ventured into and coming up with some productive ones of her own. As they aged I observed them grow closer to each other and it was a delight to see how he lit up whenever we took her to visit him at the hospital in the final few days of his inning.

She was a singer. I can still recall her voice echoing while she did her chores as a housewife. Home was always a peaceful place with mummy singing. It seemed as though the light of heaven filled the house then. She taught us how to sing and I will never forget the special song that she reserved for me.

I was asthmatic in childhood and getting wet in the rain was a no no. My father was a farmer and all of us helped out in preparing the soil for cultivation. When ever the rain clouds gathered she would turn to me and sing, "Don't go out into the rain you're gonna melt, sugar, o, oh".

It was my cue to find shelter.

Later Years

As she entered into her 80s it became more and more difficult for her to make the shots that kept out the bowling and scored runs. But she refused to leave the wicket.

One day she told me of a dream she had and interpreted it to mean that she would fall sick but would not die. Throughout her life, that was another characteristic of hers, she knew what dreams were important and how to interpret them. Her interpretation was always correct and it was this time too.

A few weeks later she experienced the first of approximately four small strokes. She had asked me to promise her that we would not put her in a home. I promised and added that if I had to pay someone to look after her, I would. Little did I know that my sister and I would be her primary care giver.

After she lost her partner of 62 years, her inning slowed even more and soon her inning consisted only of defensive shots and it was only about survival.

Her lovely voice was stilled as she was robbed of it by one of those strokes. Her last few years was spent in attempting to whisper her thoughts to us. This was most times frustrating for her and at times for us as it was difficult to figure out what she was saying.

Still, she kept her faith in Jesus and never lost it. She continued to enjoy the worship sessions with my sister, my children and my siblings whenever they could visit.

Called to rest

On Sunday morning her Captain - Jesus Christ - came to the balcony and signalled that she had fought a good fight. It was time to retire hurt. Her inning would be preserved by her Captain until it was right for her to resume again.

So she sleeps in Jesus. He has given her rest and one soon, He'll call her back to life. When He does she will not have to pick up a bat again for warfare will be forever ended. Then it will be blissful forever.

I look forward to meeting her again on that day.

Hope to meet you too.

Russell