The Valley of the Shadow

Cynthia Anne Zarafonetis Garrett

July 9, 1933--November 5, 2013

On November 5th, shortly after 9 in the evening, I got a phone call that will forever change my life.  My precious mother had been found "unresponsive" and it wasn't good.  Shortly afterward, another phone call: "She's gone."

My mother wasn't just any mother--she was, simply, amazing.  Someday I will try to write more coherently and gracefully about her and all she meant to me.  Over 10 years ago, I wrote this tribute to her that makes an attempt at verbalizing the awesomeness that was my mother, but I don't know if it even came close.

On the night she died, I put this on Facebook:

I am devastated. My precious, beautiful mother, Cynthia Garrett, went home to be with the Lord this evening. She simply laid down as if for a nap, and never woke up. I talked to her just this morning and she was cheerful and happy and so alive. I'm so happy for her...she's with my dad, many of her friends and loved ones and her Saviour...but there's a hole in my heart that won't mend until I see her again. 

God has been very real and precious to my family and me in this time of grieving.  We are still able to smile and laugh in the midst of our tears.  We know we'll see her again someday.