Eulogy for My Mom

My sweet momma, Tanya Ayon Kimble passed away on June 23, 2021. This is the eulogy I wrote for her:

Thank you for coming to honor the life of my precious momma and support my family. As I wrote this, it felt so wrong to speak in past tense about the most vibrant and alive person I’ve ever known. Last Saturday, as we learned that she probably only had days left, she slept all day and I wasn’t sure I’d ever hear her voice again. As I sat beside her and cried, I wrote these words:

I pray you felt my prayers,

I pray you felt my love as I tracked your meds,

as I rearranged your flowers.

I prayed God’s peace and love over you through your labored breaths.

I will always want one more smile,

one more hug,

one more look into those brown eyes,

one more ‘I love you,”

one more time you say my name

and one more time you hold my hand.

And God in His grace gave me most of those precious things that my heart needed and I will always be grateful.

Mom did everything well, especially her brisket 😊, but as a mom she outdid herself. She was empathetic, generous, selfless, loving, and tender. She was born to be a mom and I’m ever grateful to God that she was mine. Anything good in me is from God and her. As I’ve thought about all I would lose in her passing, I’ve challenged myself to grow in the ways I admired her, as an extension of her legacy and I challenge you to do that as well.

First, the cornerstone of my mom’s life was her faith. Seeing her rely on Christ for strength throughout her life and in recent years with her health challenges has been a beautiful testimony.

She never feared death. Assured that because of her faith in Christ and having given Him her life, she knew she would be in heaven with God in the instant she breathed her final breath on this earth. That brought her and our family so much peace.

Mom was a prayer warrior. She would spend most nights praying for everyone she could think of. If she said she was praying for you, then you knew she was. She didn’t worry—she prayed.

She was also was an encourager, reminding us of God’s promises.

She had Christian music playing on her phone all the time and each night listened to scripture for hours. She carried the truths of scripture in her heart and reminded anyone around her of their words. She found peace in His Word. Trying to pick her favorite scriptures to highlight for this service was one of the hardest things. I asked her what her favorite Bible verse was and she picked the whole book of Proverbs. That was Momma—a lover of the Word of God.

Second, there was always so much warmth, love, fun, and joy in her smile and eyes. I’ll never forget the day she took my cousins and me sledding. As we left, she did donuts in the parking lot in her giant Ford LTD. She knew how to have a good time! She loved to laugh and I loved making her laugh. She lived life with fullness and purpose and I know she wants that for me too.

Third, she didn’t worry about the future, but entrusted it to God and lived in the present. She had a genuine love for people and so much empathy, even throughout her battle with cancer. What I found unique about her love was that you didn’t have to do anything to earn it, she just loved freely. She befriended people, added folks to her prayer list, and wrapped us all in her godly outlook on life. I find strength in this moment that I can live in faith that we will be reunited in eternity.

Fourth, our family always joked that the dreamers were my mom and her brother, my Uncle Ted. While sometimes we would roll our eyes and smile at their pie in the sky dreams, it was beautiful, all the things they believed were possible. Their optimism lifted us all. She taught me to dream, no matter how impossible the dream seemed to be. Though, I’m normally a practical thinker, I’m going to dream, just like my mom taught me.

I’ll end with a scripture from her favorite book which mirrors the life she lived, Proverbs 31:28-31:

28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;

Her husband also, and he praises her:

29 “Many daughters have done well,

But you excel them all.”

30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,

But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.

31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,

And let her own works praise her in the gates.

Momma, I was forever blessed by your presence in my life and your legacy will carry on in this world.