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Victoria sat stunned, holding the priceless treasure in her shaking hands. How can this be? she thought. It just isn’t possible! Recovering from her mother’s death just a week ago, Victoria reasoned that she must be dreaming. The object before her eyes could not be real.
Her mind quickly raced back through time, stopping at the memory of her first year of college. She had been so nervous, yet so excited. That first postcard had been waiting for her in the dormitory’s multi-layered mailbox on her first day. Just a simple card, with pink flowers on the front, she recalled. Somehow Victoria’s mother had always seemed to know the right words to say, the most fitting scripture to share. Her messages had the power to encourage, empathize, or uplift. Victoria remembered that the card had read simply:
My darling girl,
I am so proud of you. I can’t be with you now, but God always will be. Can’t wait to see you when you come home!
I love you so much always,
Mom
“I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
There would be many cards to come through the years. All were similar, yet distinctively fashioned for Victoria’s present plight. Through joy and heartbreak, marriage, children and life, the postcards were a constant in Victoria’s life. Whenever she felt afraid, sad, worried, or overwhelmed, a postcard would appear like magic in the mailbox. The neatly handwritten words were a tangible reminder of her mother’s love.
Victoria had saved every card she had received, and affectionately placed them in an album to reflect upon when she needed what only God, through her mother, could give. Some cards were sent from vacation locations her mother visited, but most were sent from Victoria’s childhood home. Some were simple, and some beautifully elaborate, but each was deeply meaningful. Whenever Victoria struggled with any aspect of her life, she would refer to the book of postcards. She had never encountered a problem that was not made better when she read them.
But there would be no more postcards. Even though her mother had lived a long and fruitful life, Victoria had, in fact, lost her best friend. How ironic, that I need her now most of all, she pondered sadly.
The thought jarred Victoria back to the present and the reality of the piece of paper she held in her hand. Now, just days after her mother’s funeral, what Victoria had found while sifting mindlessly through her mail had made her aching heart skip a beat. There, in the familiar, ever graceful handwriting was a postcard addressed to Victoria. On the front was a picture of a beautiful rainbow in a crisp, cloudless blue sky. The sight of the card shook the grieving woman to the bone. She read the words again and again, trying somehow to make sense of it all. She felt as though she were reading words written by a ghost:
My darling girl,
I am so proud of you. I can’t be with you now, but God always will be. Can’t wait to see you when you come home!
I love you so much always,
Mom
"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die." John 11:25-26
Victoria later discovered that her mother had made arrangements with a family friend to mail the postcard after her death. The always attentive parent had selflessly anticipated her daughter’s feelings, even as she herself was dying.
Victoria placed the card lovingly in the album with the others, the completion of a book that would feed her soul for the years to come. “I love you, too, Mom…” she whispered. “And I will see you when I get home.”
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All scriptures NIV
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