Her room now seemed so empty. Mom was not longer with us. She had served the Lord faithfully as long as we could remember. Her life had been a great example to us, her three children, as well as to the many lives she had touched as a charter member of Calvary Temple, Seattle, Washington. Sunday School had been her ministry at Calvary Temple for over 40 years. Now, at the age of 96, she had answered the final call. We knew without question that she was in the presence of the Lord.

Mom’s death was heavy on our hearts as we gathered to make the final arrangements. Yet, we knew that her funeral service could not be a sad service. Mom had lived for the Lord joyfully. The funeral service had to be a memorial to her testimony. We decided to call it “A Service of Celebration for the Life of Miriam Westin Gunnarson”. She would have liked it.

Our brother, Daniel, had volunteered to go through Mom’s belongings to see if she had left any notes. We wanted to honor any last wishes she might have left behind. Mother had not been afraid of death. She had always said that the end of our earthly life was just the beginning of eternity with God. While looking through her things, our brother found her poem that she had written sixteen years before her death. She had titled it, “To All My Loved Ones”.

Of all our moments in the past,
Remember just the best,
And please, forget the rest.

No Funeral gloom, nor graveyard grim,
Nor gazing thru sad tears
Upon a lifeless corpse with fears.

Live on, to lift the weary ones
Who need your helping hand;
Thus follow Christ’s command.

Rejoice with me, as now I leave,
With Him, to ever be,
Thru God’s eternity.

We’ll part for just a little while.
Please do not grieve or cry.
Praise God! We’ll meet on high!

We buried her on February 22, 1996. Her funeral service was a beautiful celebration. After all, we, her “loved ones”, including one surviving sister, three children and spouses, six grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren…are all following the Lord Jesus Christ. Thanks, Mom, for your example. What a way to live…and what a way to go!

By Ann Hoskins as told to Efraim Espinoz

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