Jodean Thomas

I’ll be there

All the years she worked for women’s rights to complete healthcare were enjoyed by many. It’s a shame that Roe is in jeopardy. I hope she can fix the Scotus from heaven.

Jodean Thomas was my mother, and I was privileged to have her in my life not just as a child but on through adulthood. In the last 2 decades, my spouse Paula and I enjoyed many vacation trips that included my parents. And, I was fortunate enough to be able to stay with my Mom and Dad for a good part of her final weeks of life, in home hospice care. During that time I saw firsthand that she never lost her determination, or her compassion, or her sense of humor.

I had returned home before the night of her passing, and received the unexpected (though expected) news by telephone late at night. After making my own calls to relay the news to other close family, I went back to bed, closed my eyes, and tried to reach out to my Mom’s departing spirit. I didn’t receive words or images, but a feeling of peace came to me, and I knew that she was moving on to another calling that I could only imagine. She had slipped the surly bonds of this life, free of the discomforts and indignities of her failing body, free to be her full glorious self once again.

For me and countless others that knew and loved her over the years, her beautiful life resonates in our memories, and in all the ways that knowing her changed us. For me an entire lifetime of them — and how should I be so lucky?

Farewell, Mom, and may we meet again in a better place.