A Beautiful Legacy Continues to Play Out in the Lives of the Hand Family
It makes sense.
On Dec. 8, 2017, the world changed for me forever.
It was snowing that day and it does not surprise me in the least that it is scheduled to snow again on Dec. 8, 2018.
Dec. 8, 2017, was the day that my mother, Pamela Crawford Hand, left this world way too early. Since that day things have never been the same for me.
The last year since then has been hard for me in many ways.
My mother was always the one I went to with my biggest problems. She always knew how to talk me through whatever. Even if I was too bullheaded to take her advice, she always knew that sometimes all I needed was somebody to listen.
Since her passing I have kind of struggled in that regard. I have a great deal of friends and a wife who will talk through anything with me, but nobody has ever been able to unconditionally help me deal with my problems like my mom.
When I screwed up bad — which was a lot — she was always willing to help me figure it out.
She did the same for my wife, and never did she not treat Amy like one of her own. Amy learned to go to her in the same way that I always did. She had a gift.
I learned so much from my mother, but as I have gotten older and my children continue to grow, I learn more and more every day that the most valuable lesson is that of it’s not about you in life. It’s about your family and those that mean the most to you.
My mom cherished nothing more than her family, and I am so thankful that my children had the chance to know her. I wish they would have had the chance to be around her more, but they learned a lot from her during her time with us.
In fact, I fully believe and will believe forever that my mom was huge in helping my now 10-year-old with his love of learning.
For example, I loved my time at Spurs & Feathers, but my son was not excelling in Columbia in the classroom for numerous reasons. He needed a change.
We were lucky as a family and I earned the opportunity at UNC Asheville and since that time Alexander has been thriving. So is my 4-year-old Brynlee.
My mom helped our family through the change and continued to instill in Alexander the importance of school and worked with Amy to make sure he understood that his problems in Columbia were not because school was not fun.
Just like my mom knowing that I needed a fresh start before attending Southside Christian for my final two years of high school, my mom knew that a fresh start just might change things for Alexander. It did.
He loves his school in North Carolina and the child that was having trouble because of being scared of failing was doing math problems at the table just for fun the other day. He was even recently tested to see if he was gifted.
My mom would be so proud, and I know she is looking down smiling.
We miss her every day, but I am forever thankful to be her son.
That’s why it definitely makes sense that it is going to snow this weekend.
It was snowing the day she died on Dec. 8, 2017, when something beautiful was taken from this world.
Whether you believe it or not when I say this, I do: it’s snowing this weekend because it’s a reminder on the year anniversary of the passing of my mom that there is still so much beauty in this world. She left a beautiful legacy.
