Journal: Goodbye, Dear Mother-In-Law

Last Tuesday afternoon, I sewed the rest of the ninety 3D Flying Geese, then took Loren some soup, along with cheese and crackers, yogurt, and V8 cocktail juice.

Larry called to tell me that his mother Norma was not expected to live much longer.  He was heading home from Fremont; his brother Kenny was heading home from Grand Island.  They would be to her house in about an hour.

I went there a little later.  Several of the granddaughters were there.  I got a list of things we needed from Loren’s house, and went to retrieve them, picking up Hannah on the way, so she could help me look for things.  We gathered birth certificate, old pictures, and a nice dress.  Loren, despite my protests, carried most of the things out to the Jeep for us.

Later that evening, our nieces Katie and Amanda brought us chicken enchiladas and Spanish rice; it was so good.  The hospice nurse came for a while, too.

We stayed until 10:30 p.m., and then, since things weren’t really changing, we went home.  Larry went straight to the loveseat and collapsed, out like a light.  I typed Norma’s obituary, then washed two loads of clothes and put them away.

Kenny called Larry at 4:30 Wednesday morning to say that Norma was breathing much slower, and the nurse didn’t think it would be long.  Larry headed over there.

Later that morning, I walked into the kitchen to give Teensy his food (with his medication camouflaged in it) (Tiger gets his spoonful of consolation food, too) – and discovered the counter full of little brown ants! 

In all the years we’ve lived here, we’ve only had the rare handful of ants in the house.  In lieu of ant spray, of which I had none, I snatched up Mrs. Meyer’s Lavender Multi-Service Cleaner and let them have it.

On the positive side, it killed them immediately (and smelled good, into the bargain).  On the negative side, it did not prevent more coming in – and every ant on the entire property had evidently been given the notice that there was a new food bar to investigate.  I don’t know what the draw was; I don’t leave food out!

Larry later recalled that when he brought in those insulated Schwan bags from the front porch five days earlier, there had been little brown ants on at least one of them.  He’d dusted them off and killed them all.  (Or so he thought.)  But what he didn’t know is that squished ants give off a scent that attracts more ants.  And quite likely, some ants escaped to the Great Outdoors, leaving their chemical trail behind them, so that new ants, following the trail, poured in under the crack at the bottom of the front door.

For a couple of days, I kept spraying and wiping down counters, table, floor, chair legs, table legs.  Their numbers dwindled, but they were persistent.

Larry brought home several ant traps and set them in strategic places.  And then they were gone.

So is my Mrs. Meyer’s Lavender Multi-Service Cleaner.

Ah, well; at least the house is clean, and has a lovely, fresh lavender scent.

Hannah came that day to help me look through photo albums for pictures to display at the funeral. She went home a little after 5:00 to get ready for church.  I then went to stay with Larry, Kenny, and Kenny’s daughter Rachel, taking them soup, crackers, and peaches.  They’d been with Norma all day.  She’d been unresponsive for the last two days.

Across the street, the church parking lot began filling up; church was about to begin.  I streamed it on my laptop.  God’s word is always such a comfort at times like this.

After the service, I went back home, Hannah came, and we went back to searching through albums.

Shortly after 10:30 that night, Larry wrote to say that Norma had passed away.

We will miss her so much; she was so loving and sweet, always doing things for others.  But... as Louisa May Alcott wrote as the voice of Jo in Little Women regarding her beloved sister Beth, “But those who loved her best smiled through their tears and thanked God that Beth was well at last.”  Just so, we know Norma is ‘well at last’.

I can truthfully say that my mother-in-law never, ever said one word to me that wasn’t kind and loving.

Here’s a picture of Norma (on the left) with two of her sisters, Nora and Betty. 

Larry came home an hour or so later.  Upon learning that we were to be at the funeral home in the morning, visitation at the church would start at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, and the funeral would be Friday at 2:00 p.m. with visitation starting an hour before the service, I called it quits with the photos.  There were many albums we didn’t get to.  We made it through all of Norma’s couple dozen albums, but I have over 350, and I probably only looked through 100 of them.  The pictures we’d pulled would have to do.

Here are Norma and her sister Nora.  They were dressed for a piano recital.

Hannah and Danielle, Norma’s step-granddaughter, spent many hours putting pictures old and new on pretty display boards for the front vestibule of the church.

After a visit to the funeral home Thursday morning with Kenny and his two oldest daughters, we went to Loren’s house.  I had called him earlier to tell him about Norma, and to tell him we’d stop by his house.

I am not sure how much my brother, who is 22 years older than me, understands.  He’s sad about Norma – but more like a person would be to lose a good friend, rather than a wife.  He is sorry for Larry and Kenny more than he is for himself, I think.  So I tell him what I must, and spare him most of the details.

Loren had their wedding album out on his table and had been looking at it when we got there.  Looking at the pictures helps him remember some things.  I asked him if we could display the album at the funeral with the other pictures, and he seemed to like that idea.  I promised we’d give it right back to him after the funeral.  I really like the book, and I like the verses in it.

He asked again what exactly caused Norma’s death – it’s like he just can’t get it into his head that she actually died of cancer; it’s too hard.  He gestured at the album and said, “It was only two years.” 

I put a can of soup and some oyster crackers on his table and told him to eat it later; he said he couldn’t eat right now ... so I told him to leave that can right there where he could see it, and hopefully it would cause a hunger pang later.  He laughed at that. 

Here’s a poem Hannah found among Norma’s old pictures.  It must’ve been special to her, because she’d made three copies of it.  I typed it up and sent it to the funeral home to be printed on the inside of the funeral programs that will be handed out:

THE LORD HATH BLESSED ME HITHERTO

When our soul is much discouraged

By the roughness of the way,

And the cross we have to carry

Seems heavier each passing day;

When some cloud that overshadows

Hides our Father’s face from view,

’Tis well then to remember –

He has blessed us hitherto.

Looking back the long years over,

What a varied path!  And yet

All the way His hand has led us,

Placed each hindrance we have met;

Given to us the pleasant places,

Cheered us all the journey through;

Passing through the deepest waters,

He has blessed us hitherto.

Surely then our hearts should trust Him!

Though the clouds be dark o’erhead,

We’ve a Friend that draweth closer

When all other friends have fled.

When our pilgrimage is over,

And the gates we’re sweeping through,

We shall see with clearer vision

How He’s blessed us hitherto.

- from J. Harold Smith’s paper, The Good Neighbor

I searched for the author’s name but couldn’t find it, though I did discover it was written in 1889.  J. Harold Smith was a pastor and friend of ours from Arkansas, and later he moved to Florida.  He had a radio ministry for many years.  He died two years before my father, in 1991.

Between the morning meeting at the funeral home to choose a casket and arrange details and the afternoon visitation at the church, I had enough time to iron the 3D Flying Geese for the Old-Fashioned Sewing-Machine quilt.  I started putting them together... got half a dozen done... and then it was time to go.

Keith sent word that he was on his way with his wife Korrine and stepdaughters Keyara and Kenzie (stepson Kaiden didn’t come).  They would be driving from Salt Lake City through the night in order to get here in time. 

They arrived at their motel a little after 9:00 a.m. Friday morning.  The manager let them check in right away, and only charged them for one night.  They slept a couple of hours, and then came to the church.

When Keith walked over to his grandmother’s casket, he got tears in his eyes – and Kenzie, who’s 12, immediately went and wrapped her arms around him and gave him a big hug.  That made me happy, because it tells me that Keith loves his stepchildren, and they love him in return.  Keith and Korrine have been married a little over a year and a half.

Here is Norma’s obituary:

Norma June Swiney | 1939 - 2020 | Obituary

Lyle and Norma Jackson

Norma June Swiney, age 81, of Columbus, Nebraska, passed away June 17, 2020.

Norma June Swiney was born March 9, 1939, in rural Lamar, Colorado, to James A. and Ruby L. [Bean] Jenkinson.  They moved to Trinidad, Colorado, when Norma was 5.  She graduated from Trinidad High School in 1956.  She married Lyle R. Jackson on May 28, 1956 in Raton, New Mexico.

They lived in Trinidad, Colorado, where their children were born, until 1974, when they moved to Columbus, Nebraska.

After Lyle died, Norma married Merlin E. Wright on June 2, 1988.  Merlin passed away, and she married Lawrence H. W. Fricke on February 14, 1991.  After Lawrence passed away, Norma married Loren D. Swiney on April 26, 2018.

Norma was a faithful member of the Bible Baptist Church for 46 years.  She loved the old hymns, and played both piano and organ.  Through her life, she often worked as a secretary or a bookkeeper.  She enjoyed sewing and various crafts, and made many gifts for her children, grandchildren, and friends. 

Norma is survived by:

Husband:  Loren Swiney

Daughter:  Rhonda Jackson of Omaha, Nebraska

Son:  Larry (Sarah Lynn) Jackson of Columbus, Nebraska

Son:  Kenneth Jackson of Columbus, Nebraska

Stepdaughter:  Barbara Jenkinson

Sister:  Betty Cortez of Omaha, Nebraska

Twenty-five grandchildren

Many great-grandchildren, nephews, and nieces

She was preceded in death by:

Husbands:  Lyle Jackson, Merlin Wright, and Lawrence Fricke

Father:  James Jenkinson

Mother:  Ruby Berry

Son:  Lyle Ray Jackson, Jr.

Son:  Leonard Roy Jackson

Daughter-in-law:  Annette Jackson

Infant great-grandson:  Liam Jackson

Brother:  Alvin ‘Tex’ Jenkinson

Brother:  Clyde Jenkinson

Sister:  Opal Walcott

Sister:  Nora Van Riper

After our service, we drove to the cemetery for a small ceremony.  We stuck around for a few minutes and watched the workers close and lower the vault.  I had never seen them do this before.  It looked much like this (not my photo):

Loren rode with us to the cemetery.  The beautiful old hymns we had sung and the sermon Robert preached had helped him, and he seemed very much at peace about everything.  He talked about how helpful Norma was:  “She was at my house washing dishes a lot after the meals!” 

That’s sad, really, but I had to smile about it anyway. 

There’s so often a silver lining to our dark clouds, and here’s this one:  Loren’s loss of memory is keeping him from grieving over Norma’s loss as he otherwise would have done.

So... we don’t try to change his thinking; we just give him information as he needs it, and make sure he knows we love him.  People with Alzheimer’s start losing details, especially new details, more and more as time goes by.  But it’s often a good long while before they lose feeling – and they very likely feel the love, patience, care, humor, and various other emotions we give them a whole lot longer than we’d ever think.

So love him we will.

We returned to the church, where a generous luncheon had been prepared for the family.  There was pulled pork, sliced ham, buns, potato salad, coleslaw, orange fluff, a fruit mixture (watermelon, grapes, blueberries, pineapple, mangoes, and peaches), chips, cookies, and various things to drink.

Afterwards, we walked over to the house where Norma had stayed, and the granddaughters and great-granddaughters chose pieces of Norma’s jewelry, as she had wished for them to do.

Keith, Korrine, Keyara, and Kenzie visited Teddy and Amy and their family that evening, and the girls had a good time catching lightning bugs with Emma, who is about the same age.  They put milkweed plants, complete with the blossoms, into the jar, and punctured the lid to allow air into it.

They are taking the fireflies home with them in the hopes of populating the state of Utah with the insects. 

Now before you get all hot and bothered about a disruption and disturbance to the ecosystem, let me hasten to tell you that there are already lightning bugs in Utah, though not in the very dry area around Keith and Korrine’s home.  Fireflies love warm, humid areas.  They thrive in tropical regions as well as temperate zones.  They come out in the summertime in these environments, existing on all continents except Antarctica.  Fireflies thrive in forests, fields, and marshes near lakes, rivers, ponds, streams, and vernal pools.  They need a moist environment to survive.

Even if those captured insects made it all the way to Utah, there is poor chance for their continued survival in the area where they will be released.  The ecosystem will not suffer.

Also, there is a grand plenty of lightning bugs around here; you need shed no tears over the bugs in the jar.  They kept Keyara and Kenzie entertained for a while, so their lives were not without merit and value.

Now, are you properly mollified?

Once upon a time when I was about 9 or 10, my parents and I were camping at a park in Iowa.  I had found a couple of little girls to play with, and we were catching fireflies.  The competition was on, and we were in high gear, each trying to catch more than the other.  I raced madly about, snatching bugs in midair and off of tree leaves.

Spotting one on the ground, I dived at it, grabbed it up, and tried to drop it into my jar.

It wrapped around my finger.

My skin crawled.

I took a closer look – and discovered I had picked up not a firefly, but a glowworm!!!

Oh, shiver me timbers.

Shudders or not, I carefully scraped that worm off my finger and into my jar.  Mayhap I could win this contest not just by quantity, but by diversity!

And yes, my new little friends were properly impressed.

Speaking of bugs, I saw one of those long black beetles in the house... snatched up a Kleenex to grab him... and he went scampering under the edge of a rug.  I flipped the rug back to get to him – and a large black spider came rip-snorting out.

I didn’t know long black beetles were into quick-change costume acts, did you?

The lilies are all starting to bloom; the yard is colorful.  But the weeds are getting robust, since I haven’t had a chance to do any weeding for over a week. 

Saturday was the first day of summer, and it was also the longest day of the year.  I discovered this by reading the comic Arlo and Janis.

Larry stayed home from work that day to visit with Keith and Korrine and the girls, and to make waffles for them for breakfast.  They slept late, on account of forfeiting almost all of the previous night’s sleep to driving.  It was just as well, since we had a downpour until some time after 10:30 a.m. 

Larry had the waffle iron hot and the batter mixed and ready to pour when they arrived.  Loren showed up around 11:30 a.m.  Fortunately, we had one waffle left, for he was hungry!

Later that afternoon, Hannah took him some sliders from Arby’s for his supper.  So helpful to me, since I was fixing supper for Keith and his family.  She picked up a few more things of Norma’s while she was there, including a couple of small ceramic mallard duck figurines that Norma had made.

Keith, Korrine, and the girls left after supper.  They had a twelve-hour drive ahead of them, as they needed to get Keyara and Kenzie home to spend Father's Day with their father.

They made it by 6:15 a.m. Sunday morning. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever been so tired in my life,” said Keith, “trying to drive and trade off with Korrine...”

I know from experience that a second siege of No-Sleep-Drive-All-Night, shortly after a first siege of it, is not one bit fun.  I prayed for their safety Saturday night before I went to bed, rather late, and again Sunday morning when I got up, half an hour before they got home (6:45 CST).

Hannah gave Larry the framed song I Will Sing the Wondrous Story.  It has paper flowers arranged around it.  It was Norma’s favorite song; we sang it at the funeral.  This was Larry’s Father’s Day gift from Bobby and Hannah and family. 

Here’s Teensy trying to nap on the Log Cabin quilt.  But Larry had it folded and lopped over the arm of the loveseat, and Teensy slid right down it and onto the loveseat.  Do you think the blood is running to his head?

Hester texted Larry to say she had fixed a dessert for him (and for me, too!), so we headed out to get it. 

The Jeep wouldn’t start. 

It wasn’t the battery; the battery was hale and hearty.  It had to be in the relay wiring somewhere, according to Larry.

His pickup was still across the street from the preschoolers’ house, as he and Kenny had loaded Norma’s dresser and free-standing jewelry box into her van and he’d driven it home.

So... we drove the van to Hester’s house, despite the fact that it was piping hot outside, nothing but hot air blows from the van’s vents, and the passenger side window won’t roll down.

That was not the worst part, however.  In an empty compartment directly behind the right rear wheel well, something was making a loud, raspy, continuous beep, only a wee bit quieter than a smoke alarm going off.  Larry was untroubled, since he could rarely hear it.  Aarrgghh.

But we made it to Andrew and Hester’s house, ate pretty little cheesecakes with fresh blueberries and peaches on top, and played with Keira.  She’s such a lively little sweetie.

After departing under a brilliant orange and red sunset (no, of course not; why would I have ever taken my camera with me?), we went to get the pickup.  I drove the van home, beeping all the way.  It started raining just before I got here.  Dodging raindrops, I dashed into the house.

Oh, look!  Victoria posted a picture of the sunset on Instagram!  It’s in a different location, and it’s a little later and therefore a little darker, but it’s still plenty spectacular.

Since Larry couldn’t work on the Jeep that night on account of the pouring rain, we had to drive the pickup to church Sunday. 

Huuuumiliating.  I made sure to wear full skirts both morning and night so I could get in and out of the thing (thank goodness for the step Larry installed on that truck when we were in Texas), and I chose dark colors, in case he missed some oil or grease in his quick-cleaning job.

Kurt and Victoria invited us over for lunch after the morning service, and Victoria sent Loren home with some lunch, too.  I appreciate our generous and helpful children.

Saturday, Keith moved the recliner to the other side of the living room (a distance of about ten feet)... and we decided to leave it there, on the chance that there won’t be air blowing right into my eyes like there is when the chair is against the other wall.

This meant we needed to put Tiger’s bed somewhere else.  I laid it in front of the hope chest, where Teensy’s Thermabed usually resides, though he never sleeps in it in the summertime.  It’s in the washroom right now.

Anyway, Tiger just went and started lying down on his bed, but he got a bit off-center as he was ker-plunking down, and winded up thonking into the door of the hope chest, which made a noisy wooden ‘klonk’ noise.  He paused halfway up and halfway down, making as much of an ‘ugh-what-happened’ grimace as any cat could possibly make.

He lumbered off of the bed and clambered up on the loveseat.  It doesn’t go ‘ka-thonk!’ when he lies down on it!

Larry worked on the Jeep last night, and got it fixed in just a few minutes.  A relay wire had corrosion on it and wasn’t making good connection.  He couldn’t get to the point of connection (at least, not without removing half the engine, he couldn’t), so he wiggled the wire back and forth until he figured it was pretty well cleaned off.  Then he tried the starter – and it started, presto.

Joseph sent a note wishing him a Happy Father's Day, writing from a camping trip in Colorado.  They had gone up Pike’s Peak earlier.

Larry and I haven’t ever gone up Pikes Peak – at least not together.  We were going to a couple of years ago, but decided it was too expensive.  It’s $15 per adult; $5 for children ages 5-17.  The price goes by person, rather than by vehicle, the greedy racketeers.  Joseph got in free because he’s a veteran.

I went several times with my parents.  Daddy would drive close enough to the snowbanks to grab a handful of snow, and then toss it back at me.  Then he’d drive reeeeeal close to the snowbank on my side... I’d jussssssssst about reach it — and then he’d swerve away from it.

I ‘drove’ it several months ago – via Google Street View.  When I got to the top, I discovered that the GGWTCOHH (Google Guy with the Camera on His Head) had trekked right down the side of the mountain, so down the side of the mountain went I, too! (via laptop)

Joseph said Juliana got sick from the altitude, but soon recovered.  “My wife had Fear of Gravity sickness, going up,” he added.  😄  Poor Jocelyn!

“Pike’s Peak was on my ‘Need-to-Do List’,” said Joseph.  “Now it’s on my ‘I-Did-It-Don’t-Need-to-Repeat-It List’.”

“We’re moving to my favorite campground ever tomorrow,” he told us.  “Bet you’ll never guess which one.  We stayed there several times when we were young.”

“Chief Hosa?” I guessed.

 “Sugar Loafin’,” said Joseph.

“Ah!” I exclaimed, “I loved that one best, too!”

Sugar Loafin’ is a nice campground west of Leadville, Colorado.  It’s a beautiful area.  We haven’t been there for a while.

“What’s the name of the lake immediately west of the campground?” I asked.  All I could think of was ‘Bright Blue Lake’, and I knew that wasn’t right.

“Turquoise, I think,” he replied, just as I found it on the map.  Turquoise it is.

Tennessee Creek runs through the campground, too.

“Remember when those bums started a campfire at Chief Hosa campground, when the ground was covered with several inches of bone-dry pine needles and no campfires were allowed?” I queried.  “The campground owners called 911, and firemen came and ran them off.  Didn’t even let them get all their things.  The next morning, we fell upon the spoils.”  😂

Larry wound up with a nice camera, including film... and we found enough cartons of chicken-flavored Nissin Cup Noodles to feed our entire tribe their supper the next night.  We’d never had Nissin noodles before, and we all really liked it.

Once we were pulling out of Sugar Loafin’ Campground, when Caleb, sitting between us, said, “Something’s biting me!”  He was about 3, maybe 4.

Larry knew exactly what the trouble was:  the child had red ants on him!

In a giant hurry, without saying a word, Larry slammed on the brakes, opened the door of the pickup, snatched Caleb out of his seat, and set him down on the ground. 

Caleb’s eyes were bigger’n saucers.  He must’ve thought his father was pitching him to the wolves, poor little kiddo!

I was yelping, “Tell him what you’re doing, tell him what you’re doing!” 

By then Larry was out of the truck, helping Caleb off with his shirt, and brushing the ants off of him.  And explaining what he was doing.  Caleb’s eyes gradually returned to their proper size.

“Been there got that t-shirt,” remarked Joseph, upon my retelling of this story.  “Well, the t-shirt came off very quickly.

“I was training in Louisiana (does not recommend Louisiana for tourist destination) and was taking a quick second to eat my Happy Meal (aka MRE 🤢) and was leaned up against a tree and they coordinated their attack and about 20 of them bit me at the same time.  I broke records taking my gear off.  Thankfully my trousers were tied at the bottom and belt was tight so they only got in my shirt.”

More recollections from various trips we took:  We were at a park in St. Jo, Missouri, eating tacos.  The park was under a very big Interstate overpass, which was held up by huge concrete pillars.  The traffic was way, way, overhead, so far above us that even the noise of the big trucks was minimal.

The children, after eating their tacos, went off to play catch with footballs and frisbees.  Caleb, taking a break from all the dashing about, leaned on one of those enormous pillars.

I gasped, “Aahhhh!  Don’t lean on that, the bridge will collapse and the cars and trucks will all fall down!”

He popped bolt upright really, really fast, eyes wide. 

And then, in a quiet, reproving tone when his siblings screeched with laughter, he said, “Mama.”  hee hee

At 3:00 p.m. today, AccuWeather said it was clear and sunny – but it was actually overcast, and radar showed storms heading our way.  I got in gear and fixed some food for Loren, then rushed off to give it to him:  spaghetti and meatballs... a cinnamon roll... broccoli... apple juice... and a fruit mixture of peaches, mangoes, pineapple, and strawberries.  

While there, I picked up some of Norma's shoes and the Buoyant Blossoms quilt I’d made for her, and Loren helped me fold it (keep clicking on ‘Older Posts’ at the bottom to see better shots of the quilting, up close).

He couldn’t remember if it was one Norma had made, or if I had made it for her. I told him again, and then said, “I promise, I won’t steal the one I made for you!” He laughed. Here’s his, created from blocks his previous late wife Janice made:  August Bouquet Quilt

At this stage (and he’s probably likely to continue this way, at least with Larry and me), he’s completely trusting and agreeable with anything we say.  I shall stay cheery and encouraging, doing my best to help him.  Sometimes it makes me want to cry, though.  I really love my brother.

The storm was heading toward our house from the northwest almost as fast as I was heading to it from the east.  I got home before the deluge and the 50 mph winds hit, just barely.  As I stopped on Old Highway 81 to get our mail from the mailbox, big, fat raindrops were starting to fall.  When I pulled into our lane, sudden hard winds came gusting through, so that I had a hard time opening and closing the Jeep doors and collecting the bag of Loren’s clothes I brought home to wash.

Yessiree, it was willy whewy!!!  (à la Victoria, age 1 ½

By a quarter after five, it was sunny and beautiful out, and the wind was barely a breeze at 6 mph.  I popped outside and took pictures of the flowers with all the raindrops on them, filled the bird feeders, and washed clothes.

When Larry got home from work, he told me about seeing a mountain lion in a field near Duncan at about 8:00 a.m. this morning.

“You should report it,” I told him – but he said he didn’t need to, because a sheriff’s car was on the shoulder, and the sheriff was watching the lion as it sashayed through the field, pausing periodically to look back over its shoulder.  It had probably gotten too close to a calf, and the mother cow chased it off.  Cows aren’t so docile, when something is endangering their calves!

Kurt, Victoria, Carolyn, and Violet came visiting, bringing Larry a shave bar, brush, and cup, along with steak and carrots.  He generously gave me a bite of his steak.  😋😄

After they left, Larry went to Genoa to work on one of his friend Joe’s vehicles. 

Fact:  Deep Relief essential oils, to rub on sore joints and whatnot, does not cure Benign Essential Blepharospasm.  In fact, it doesn’t even make it feel better!

I knew you’d want to know.

,,,>^..^<,,,           Sarah Lynn           ,,,>^..^<,,,

I Will Sing the Wondrous Story

I will sing the wondrous story
Of the Christ Who died for me,
How He left His home in glory
For the cross of Calvary.

Chorus

Yes, I'll sing the wondrous story
Of the Christ Who died for me,
Sing it with the saints in glory,
Gathered by the crystal sea.

I was lost, but Jesus found me,
Found the sheep that went astray,
Threw His loving arms around me,
Drew me back into His way.

I was bruised, but Jesus healed me;
Faint was I from many a fall;
Sight was gone, and fears possessed me,
But He freed me from them all.

Days of darkness still come o'er me,
Sorrow's path I often tread,
But the Savior still is with me;
By His hand I'm safely led.

He will keep me till the river
Rolls its waters at my feet;
Then He'll bear me safely over,
Where the loved ones I shall meet.