More from David Brannock

In my devotional “Never Forgotten,” I contrast the difference between our temporal parents and the eternal God. Although our parents may lose their ability to know where they are or who we are, God always knows our location and identity. God’s memory is permanently perfect.

My mother passed away eight months after the visit described in my devotional. As her dementia worsened, she gradually lost the mental capacity to communicate in an intelligible way. Mom sang in the church choir for decades, but near the end she barely talked at all, and she stopped singing. Sometimes her eyes were clear, but increasingly they looked vacant.

Amazingly, however, Mom never forgot who we were. Shortly before her death, on my last visit at the skilled nursing facility, she called me by name. And she wasn’t prompted either. My father did not have to say, “David is here to see you,” or “Do you remember David?” To the end of her days, my mother remembered the son she birthed, and I remembered that she loves me—always. At her funeral, it felt appropriate that “It Is Well with My Soul” was the song she had picked out for the congregation to sing. Now that she is in the heavenly choir, it truly is well with her soul. Remembering that gives me comfort.