At La Quinta Inn where we stay while in Fort Worth, breakfast includes waffles in the shape of Texas. Maria is in charge of setting up and taking down the buffet. She has become a friend of sorts if only because we always stay here when in Fort Worth, she and I always speak in Spanish, and we leave her a small tip after our stay.
This morning she was all smiley and happy to see us. She asked after mom, knowing that mom is why we are here to visit. I told her that mom passed and that we were here to celebrate her life with family. She instantly showed tears in her eyes and embraced me to her bosom, while telling me that she was so sorry to hear of my pain.
Maria proceeded to tell me unasked, in Spanish, all of the beliefs about death that she has based on her Mexican Catholic upbringing. Besides “Mom is at rest,” she explained that “Mom is embraced in Mary's arms and will be reborn when he returns and will have a new perfect body. The love of a mother, like Mary’s for Jesus, is never dying and always there for the asking and the remembering.”
She promised to light a candle for mom at her church every Sunday for the next year. Now that is faith and while her beliefs are not necessarily mine, I did find Maria’s concern and love oddly comforting.
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