When Life Gives You Unconditional Love

My story of love is not so much my story, but my mother's story.

My mother married my daddy at the young age of nineteen. She came from a very poor family, so she always strived to have more for her family than she had.

She and daddy had three children. Mike, my oldest brother; Randy, the middle son; and me, not only the youngest but the only girl. My brothers never let me forget that I was the youngest and the baby girl. Although, there was never a difference made between any of us by our parents.

Somewhere, between the ages of twelve and thirteen, my middle brother Randy, began a journey of drug abuse that would ultimately end his life at the young age of fifty-eight. He would often tell us on a Friday that he would be back home in a little while, and would not return for several days.

My mother would pray every night for his safe return. If he did not come home, she would get in her car (with me in tow), and go from drug house to drug house looking for him.

Here was this petite woman, and her small daughter, driving around with a baseball bat, banging on doors, screaming and demanding to know where her son was. She never lost hope that one day he would be okay. He was finally able to get himself clean and sober. However, this did not mean he was free from the results of his drug abuse. He was later diagnosed with liver disease. Unwilling to care for a sick husband, his second wife packed his belongings and kicked him out of their home. My mother and daddy were called to come and pick him up. He moved in with my parents at the age of fifty-three. My mother, became his caregiver when she should have been resting at the age of seventy-eight. For five years, she cared and loved him. She did everything for him. She took him to every single one of his medical appointments at the VA hospital in Birmingham, AL. Weighing in at around 125 pounds, she could be seen pushing him in his wheelchair from floor to floor in and around the hospital. At this time, he weighed around 300 pounds. She did this until his death in 2010. She was by his side the whole time until the very end.

During Randy's time living with our parents, we received the news that his only son had died at the age of nineteen. There are no words to describe his devastation. It was now my mother's job to console him and help him cope with his loss.

My oldest brother Mike, always loved adventure. So, at no surprise, he joined the Marines at the young age of nineteen. He was sent to Vietnam as soon as he was out of boot camp. My mother prayed daily for his safety. She would pack boxes of goodies to send him along with letters of encouragement. She always would give him Bible verses, and pray those wonderful scriptures over him.

The young man that left for Vietnam to defend his country returned as a troubled soul.

He married three times and had five children. My mother would often open her home to his family when they had no place to go. She loved each of his wives, and opened her home to each of them. Some were grateful, and some were not. No matter, she showed nothing but love to them. My brother had his demons, and he suffered from PTSD for a long time. This led him down a rocky road of alcohol and drug abuse. All along his path, my mother prayed and hoped for his safe return. After a long battle, he finally broke free, and for fifteen years, he was a happily married man, and returning to the man that my mother always knew him to be. One day, after visiting with her and daddy, he died suddenly on his way back home.

Not long after his death, on her birthday, she received a gorgeous bouquet of red roses from him. He had planned ahead at some point before his death to ensure flowers were delivered on her birthday.

This was the same year she had lost her grandson and now her firstborn was gone as well.

December 24, 2011, my daddy passed away quietly, after a lifelong battle with diabetes. He and my mother had been married for sixty-five years, and he was her best friend. She cared and loved him more than life itself all those years

February 2012, my beautiful niece and her precious baby daughter died tragically in a car accident. This was my brother Randy's only daughter and granddaughter, and Jordan's sister. I remember getting the call late that night and driving in the freezing weather to bring the news to my mother.

Throughout my mother's life, she had loved and cared for her family. She cared for her father when he was sick. Her mother, Big Mama, lived with us for five years, until her death in 1979. The same year I had my first child. She cared and loved my daddy through his changing life, as dementia changed him into someone she did not even know anymore, it seemed.

She is a true example of When Life gives you a mother with unconditional love.

Cathy Braden - Only daughter of Linda Bishop and the late, Orville Bishop.

This was hard. This was written by my mother. My grandmother is the only living grandparent I have left. She means the world to me and my family. My kids adore her! She is such an amazing woman who has led a beautiful life of raising her family, loving the Lord, and caring for others. She truly is the best example of unconditional love. I love you Grandmother.

Best,