I found the note in the kitchen when I came home from playing.
In the note, my mom said she wanted to commit suicide at the Bloomington Ferry Bridge. Weeks later when my mom didn’t come home, my dad and I rushed to the bridge where we found her car. While sitting in the car waiting for the police to arrive, I heard my dad scream, “Liz, I loved you.”
At the time, I was fourteen and mad at my mom for disciplining me. She was a recovering alcoholic and had been trying to be a better mother. But my mom was estranged from my dad, and, because of my mom’s drinking, my parents always fought.
My dad’s actions toward my mother—and mine—were not very loving. My dad could have done more to be a good husband, and I was immature and ungrateful. The ending wasn’t happy. We both failed and will never be able to change that we did not show how much we loved her.
John says we should love one another, but sometimes we let our anger toward our family get in the way of our love for them. John also says love comes from God. Jesus loved us so much that He took the punishment we deserved when He died on the cross.
I’m sure our disobedience angers Jesus, but He didn’t let His anger over our sin stop Him from dying on the cross.
Don’t let the anger you may feel toward a family member stop you from saying, “I love you.”
(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)
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Ken Ebright is a former Minnesotan who lives in Belleville, Illinois. He plays a keyboard, sings in a men’s choir, and does street witnessing.