A Mother’s Day Tribute | Her Name was Winnie

In honor of Mother’s Day, we wanted share this post from our archives…the legacy that we leave as moms has a huge effect on the future. Don’t forget that while you spend your days on dishes, laundry and driving carpool, you are really training up a generation to love and serve Jesus. ………………………………………………………………………………………………

Her Name was Winnie

Many years ago, there were two grandparents lying in an Intensive Care Unit in a small-town hospital in Pennsylvania.  One was a lady named Winnie. The other was a man who was a financial pillar of the community. Winnie was a high school graduate. The man across the room had an Ivy League education. Winnie had worked for slightly above minimum wage all of her life.  The man across from her was one of the titans of local industry. Winnie was dying with a couple hundred dollars in the bank. The man across from her was dying with more money in the bank than most people make in five lifetimes. But the difference was that Winnie was rich, and the dying man across the ICU really had little to show for his life. They both had children and they both had grandchildren. For the entire time that they laid across the room from each other, Winnie had a constant stream of children and grandchildren coming to be by her side. The many people she had lived her life for were now traveling from all the points of the compass just to hold her hand and stand by her side to the end. The man across the room had no visitors. He had lived for himself when he was young and had indulged himself as he got older. Now -with time running out, he suddenly realized that it was too late. He had purchased all of the recognition, accolades, and applause he had received. But because he had not left his mark on the hearts of the people he loved, no one came to hold his hand and to weep over him when he died. Late one evening, as the nurse was preparing him for a night of sleep, he inquired about the woman across the room with all the children and the grandchildren. The nurse told him her name and a little about her family. He asked, “What are her chances of surviving?” The nurse said, “None.  She will be fortunate to live another few days.” After a long pause, he said, “I wish I could change places with Winnie. I’d give everything I have to be what she is to her family.” Shortly after that night, Winnie died. And very soon, so did the man. People came from all over the country to say goodbye to Winnie. They stood outside in the rain for three nights for a chance to pay their last respects. Her children and grandchildren stood by her side—two generations of human beings who were eternally touched by this humble lady. The titan of business, the Ivy Leaguer who had followed her to the grave…well…he had more family members show up for the reading of his will than he had at his funeral. Winifred Olive Dean Kimmel, my mom, has passed on a legacy that we now will pass on to our own children and grandchildren. We honor her this mother’s day for her passionate love for others, that translated, in her final days, to an outpouring of love from those around her.