I can't believe that in just a few short weeks it will be 6 months you have been gone. It's just as fresh and as raw today as it was then.
There isn't a day that goes by that you don't enter my mind; some days it is with a smile knowing that you are dancing with the angels, some days it is with selfish tears and heartache, and some days it is with both.
It's funny the things that trigger it. Today, it was when I was breaking bread for tonight's stuffing for dinner. I thought about calling Mom to see how she makes her stuffing because it is always so good, and I can't emulate it no matter how hard I try. It was then that I thought of you. I got a chuckle thinking back to the days when you first left home and every night at supper time we could count on a phone call...calling to ask Mom how to cook something!
I have thought of you so often when Mel and I talk about her upcoming wedding and move to Tennessee. You've "been there, done that." There are so many things I wish I could talk to you about. You always gave such calming reassurance. You could make me feel like everything is going to be OK even in the face of chaos.
I love you and miss you...my Big D, our Sissy
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Friday, July 3, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Incredible!
Donna,
Over the weekend I read the book 90 Minutes In Heaven. It was recommended to me by a friend who lost her father over the winter. All I can say, is WOW! The book allowed me a little insight about what you are doing in Heaven. I was blown away by it. I smiled a lot reading it and I cried a lot reading it, but the tears were tears of joy. A day does not pass that I don't think of you and that I don't miss you, but reading that book made me so happy that you are in Heaven. I know that one day I am going to be there and when I do, you're going to be in my celestial welcoming committee, and I can just imagine that you're going to push to the front of the people so that I will see you first.
I love you, Donna, and I miss you...but now when I get that lump in my throat thinking of you it will always be with a smile on my face because I know a little bit of what you're doing.
Bev
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
But Wait, There's More!
Family, friends old and dear, and memories of Donna and the joy she brought to our lives--it was the perfect Saturday. Donna had been gone from Harford County for over 30 years, but such was the mark she left on all she met that friends even from high school came to share. Thank you to everyone who shared a memory here.
When I got home I wished again, like I do every single day, that I could just ring Donna up in Heaven and chat. I would tell her how we are all doing just fine but miss her so much. It just seems there were so many things left to share--Dad's 75th, Crystal's graduation, that beautiful new granddaughter. I would say "you would've been so proud of Crystal with honors!" and "Kendall looks just like Rachel's baby pictures." And how proud she would have been of Monica, rushing to her sister's side to fill the void. So much joy and yet we miss her so much! And she would listen patiently as I prattled on and then she would say,
"The best is yet to come, Sissy, the best is yet to come!"
Until then...I praise God for filling our hours with such wonder and joy.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Memorial Service
Donna L. Pennington-Sowers
The family of Donna Sowers invites you to join with them as they remember and celebrate the life of their beloved wife, mother, daughter, sister
Note: If any of the readers of this blog would like to share a favorite memory of Donna at the memorial, please contact me (email: baw2b@comcast.net). Also, if you are unable to attend and have a memory you'd like to have shared, please send me an email and I will add it to the program.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Donna is still touching lives!
For those of you who are on facebook, you may have already seen this post on my page. However, I wanted to post it here also for those not on FB.
The background is that our pastor is teaching a seminar entitled Conversational Evangelism. The purpose is to teach you how to share your faith in a manner that is, as the title suggests, just a simple conversation with someone.
Yesterday evening, I had an opportunity to do just that. God used not only the information I picked up at the seminar, but also used Donna. It was totally cool.
I attended the conversational evangelism seminar at OG yesterday afternoon for what I thought was one reason--to record the seminar for later posting on the website. This evening, I discovered God had another reason for me to be there. He had a plan that involved both Donna and that seminar.
You probably remember the note I posted a few weeks ago about Donna entitled, Do You Remember Me? In that note, I talked about the angel necklace I now wear. This evening, I ran into a gentleman who made comment about the necklace. I told him about the background, how it had belonged to my sister and was given to me on the day of her funeral in March. I then explained why I allow it to be tangled with the cross necklace. God then set my brain in motion and the CE seminar information kicked in. I was able to relax and "conversationally evangelize" with this man.
I learned that he was diagnosed with cancer two years ago, which set him off into a world of heavy drinking. He started attending AA and was able to get sober. He talked about how he lost two jobs to his drinking, and now that he is sober is rebuilding his career. He talked about how he found a "higher power." I think he was afraid to mention God, so I did. I told him our hope rests in the Lord. We talked for little bit longer, and then with tears in his eyes he thanked me for talking to him and walked away saying he is learning that there really is hope in the world that he had come to hate so much.
I don't know if I was the "7.6th" time he has been evangelized, or the first, or the tenth. All I do know is that God allowed me the blessing of meeting this stranger and using me as a vessel to show His love.
We never know when God is going to use us. I encourage all of you to attend the CE seminar next week at 4 p.m. in EB3. Sharing your faith does not have to be scary, nor does it have to be "Bible-thumping."
You never know what a simple smile and "hello" to a stranger on the street will lead you.~
bev~
The background is that our pastor is teaching a seminar entitled Conversational Evangelism. The purpose is to teach you how to share your faith in a manner that is, as the title suggests, just a simple conversation with someone.
Yesterday evening, I had an opportunity to do just that. God used not only the information I picked up at the seminar, but also used Donna. It was totally cool.
I attended the conversational evangelism seminar at OG yesterday afternoon for what I thought was one reason--to record the seminar for later posting on the website. This evening, I discovered God had another reason for me to be there. He had a plan that involved both Donna and that seminar.
You probably remember the note I posted a few weeks ago about Donna entitled, Do You Remember Me? In that note, I talked about the angel necklace I now wear. This evening, I ran into a gentleman who made comment about the necklace. I told him about the background, how it had belonged to my sister and was given to me on the day of her funeral in March. I then explained why I allow it to be tangled with the cross necklace. God then set my brain in motion and the CE seminar information kicked in. I was able to relax and "conversationally evangelize" with this man.
I learned that he was diagnosed with cancer two years ago, which set him off into a world of heavy drinking. He started attending AA and was able to get sober. He talked about how he lost two jobs to his drinking, and now that he is sober is rebuilding his career. He talked about how he found a "higher power." I think he was afraid to mention God, so I did. I told him our hope rests in the Lord. We talked for little bit longer, and then with tears in his eyes he thanked me for talking to him and walked away saying he is learning that there really is hope in the world that he had come to hate so much.
I don't know if I was the "7.6th" time he has been evangelized, or the first, or the tenth. All I do know is that God allowed me the blessing of meeting this stranger and using me as a vessel to show His love.
We never know when God is going to use us. I encourage all of you to attend the CE seminar next week at 4 p.m. in EB3. Sharing your faith does not have to be scary, nor does it have to be "Bible-thumping."
You never know what a simple smile and "hello" to a stranger on the street will lead you.~
bev~
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The Bridge of Memory
I sat down this morning to write my thank-you notes (I know...I'm behind, as usual). One of the cards I received from a couple at church made me stop and reflect. The words were just so beautiful and seemed to be written especially for Donna. The ironic thing is that this couple didn't really know Donna. They cannot know exactly how perfectly the card they sent describes her.
The Bridge of Memory
The voice of someone beautiful is silent,
and yet her presence seems so real and clear.
The smile that always filled a room with sunshine
at any time, it seems, could reappear.
With every thought of her,
it seems the sadness becomes a wider,
deeper stream of loss.
Yet, memory builds a bridge of healing comfort,
from here to her, for loving hearts to cross.
The voice of someone beautiful is silent,
and yet her presence seems so real and clear.
The smile that always filled a room with sunshine
at any time, it seems, could reappear.
With every thought of her,
it seems the sadness becomes a wider,
deeper stream of loss.
Yet, memory builds a bridge of healing comfort,
from here to her, for loving hearts to cross.
Thank you, Lord, for sending friends into our lives who can pick us up and carry us through when we don't have the strength to carry on.
~bev~
~bev~
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