This past Monday, June 7th, my mother, Sara Kathlene Sudan, died at age 88 and went to be with the Lord. She was well until April 2009 when she had a stroke which did not affect her strength but left her very confused. She stopped dialysis in January of this year and amazingly survived another 5 months. Fortunately she did not really suffer and passed peacefully. We had a beautiful memorial survice on the 12th and put her to rest. I wanted to devote this blog to honor her as an amazing mother.
Firstly she was a loving mother. I think all of her kids would testify that she was faithful and sacrificial in her love. She would listen to us for hours whether it was problems we were dealing with or what we learned in school. She and my father went to all of our sporting events and she drove us everywhere. For four years she drove my sister after school way out to the barn for horse riding and then back again to pick her up. She stuck with us when things did not always go well. When my dad basically disowned my brother because of his long hair, she kept in touch and invited him in. And when my oldest brother was in prison she faithfully went to visit him every month.
Secondly she was a true servant. She served my father for years supporting him in many ways and of course she served us as indicated above. Probably the most telling story is how she served her church, Willow Meadows in Houston. For 25 years she would take the flowers from the alter and on Mondays would divide them up into smaller arrangements and take them to members in the hospital, staying to talk and encourage them.
Thirdly she was a great grandmother. Of course she was always willing to babysit when needed. She was an acomplished seamstress and sewed most of our kid's clothes especially in the early years. She was good at keeping in touch and was especially good with my niece, writing a total of 200 letters to her over the years. Our kids loved going to visit her as she always kept goldfish in the cabinet which they loved and there was a whole closet of Barbies to play with. Then there were always the great hugs she would give.
Her life was the epitome of the American dream. She was a very proud woman and hated the fact that she grew up in very humble means as a sharecropper's daughter and having to pick cotton. She only went through the 11th grade as that was all there was at her school. In spite of this she was a very bright woman and basically educated herself. She was very attractive and actually had marraige proposals from eight different men. She always took great pride in her looks and even in her 80s dressed to kill. Of course she loved to shop and passed that trait down to her daughter and granddaughters.
I am thankful that my parents moved here to Waco 6 years ago and that I was able to spend a lot of time with my mother during those years. She was a sweet lady and a great friend and everybody loved her. She will be missed but fortunately she was a believer and she is now with Christ. She lived a long and full life and there are no regrets. So now a generation has passed and it is up to us to pass on to the next the honor of the Sudan name and the truth of the gospel.
