18 Comments

Wow. I cried. Beautiful tribute. I don’t have that kind of relationship with my mother. But I always celebrate those who have their biggest fan. I’m sure she’s looking down from heaven and saying “that’s my boy. I’m so proud of him.” Thanks for sharing.

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Thank you for helping me name my sorrow. My parents are both gone and I feel lost and overwhelmed and for the first time in my life, I've felt that I'm a burden and I'm never enough. It's because I lost my biggest fan.

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Thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings. I am just at the beginning of this journey with my father. It is a painful task for any family to walk. It inspires me to try and be my children's biggest fan so they can have good memories made with me.

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Thankful for you and your work, and for your mom's influence on who you are. Glad to make a contribution to the Alzheimer's Association in her memory.

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Thank you. My mom is currently in the slow fade of dementia. I can't say she was good at being a fan, but she sure loves me, and feels a need for me. Your post makes me realize I can be a better full on fan of each of my kids. I've gotten better at this as I've gotten older, and they're adults, so I feel less responsible for them, and can just appreciate how wonderful they are. Thanks.

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Beautiful tribute to a wonderful lady. And therapeutic for me to read your experience, as my own mom died in February from early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

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Great article. Thanks for sharing.

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Just wonderful. Deeply grateful for you, and for your story. I've gotten to know you as a pastor, speaker and faith leader, just from listening to you speak at conferences, on your podcast, etc. But this allows me and others who love and admire you as a faith leader, to know you more intimately as a person, and a brother. May God continue to bless you with opportunities to realize your ever "grander" dreams. ...Imagining a smiling mom above...

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"Biggest Fan", you hit the nail on the head, for sure! As a mom myself, I know something of how that IS and how I live that with my grown kids. Bless you. RIP sweet mama.

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A beautiful tribute to a beautiful woman and mother. You are so fortuanate that she blessed your life in this way.

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This is beautiful. She would be so blessed by it. I lost my mom to Alzheimer's too. It is a thoughtless ailment slowly robbing the loved ones of their beloved. My heart is with you.

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Thank you for sharing these moments with us. The process of aging can steal our loved ones from us even before they pass on, but we can hold them up in our memories for who they still are. And when we share those memories with others, then they, too, can remember the comfort and grace that our loved ones surrounded us with.

Thankful for you for the good times and good memories that you have.

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Amazing tribute. Thank you for sharing this memory with us. I always tell people, "I'd love to listen to your stories and share your memories with you." So many shy away and get uncomfortable with these types of conversations but I think they are therapeutic and comforting. Again, thank you for sharing with us.

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Profoundly beautiful reflections, sir. Thank you for sharing the difficulties and pain; a great reminder to cherish our loved ones here and now. I look forward to meeting your lovely mother one day.

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Beautiful tribute, and a reminder for me to cherish the present as I journey with my father through mid-stage Alzheimer’s now. Thank you.

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