Just before I left for Africa for the first time, my mother told me the story about how she came to be an atheist. Her father had been born in the old country in 1891. He left home at the age of eleven (people grew up faster in those days) and at the same time he left home, he turned his back on God.
When my mother was a child, the priest in her church told the congregation that anyone who was not a Roman Catholic was going to Hell. “That meant my father was going to Hell,” she told me. “And I KNEW that couldn’t be true, because he was the best man I knew.”
My mother raised four children. All have advanced degrees, all are productive citizens. She founded two environmental organizations, traveled all around the world, and was loved by many on three continents.
She came to visit me while I was in Africa. We both did the canopy walk, two hundred feet in the air. She was just a few weeks shy of her seventieth birthday.
The last time I saw her was when I went to visit her for three weeks during December 2005-January 2006. Every day we would go out and cover 2-3 miles. (I ran, she rode her bicycle.)
In March of 2006, she was out riding her bicycle and was hit by a car and broke her rib. She continued riding every day and in April was hit by another car. A woman in an SUV barreled past a stop sign and slammed into her. She was dead before she hit the ground.
The last lesson she had to teach was that the biggest risk of all is not taking any risks.
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Dr. Evan Levine
old new lefty
Unbreakable
vilgessuola
mypsyche
Rutilus Extraho
Salon.com
Comments
I am so so so sorry about her death. And I get that last lesson. Damn.
I am so glad that you had such a great mom, I love stories about women who did the unexpected and succeeded.
I remember when I was learning catholicism many parts were so confusing but the who is going to hell part, well that part is Still confusing. How fortunate that she understood it wasn't true early! Smart kid and great person.
Rated & Cheers!
You describe your mother with great love and admiration. That speaks very well of her.
Rated
Coincidentally, a great article on how Christianity is bunk was recently published at OpEdNews.com. Please read "How We Know That Christianity Is Not True" http://www.opednews.com/articles/How-We-Know-That-Christian-by-Ben-Dench-090504-55.html
and strong. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Thanks for sharing with us all.
Of course, rated.