Ocie Jean Caldwell-Barnes Program

M Y F RIEND M Y T WIN Mom, I am unable to sleep, watching my computer’s cursor blink to a blank page. Yes ma’am, I understand laws of addition and subtraction, 55 minutes of typed words, and 75 minutes of erasure, still equals a blank page. Your grandkids, great-grand, nieces, nephew, and bonus-children completed their writings at warp speed. I decided to push down my OCD and share a print preview of us. Mom , I love you and I am pushing through with a broken heart and whole soul! I thank God for blessing you twice with sons to ensure you are never without your Heartbeats. I believe John 3:16; my spiritual imagination enables me to see both you and Charles finally releasing from your first long-awaited embrace. Best friend , thank you for introducing Heartbeat #2 and me to our God . I enjoyed our shared readings of Henry Blackaby’s, “Experiencing God,” Lee Strobel’s, “The Case for A Creator.” I still hear you laughing after attorney and journalist Strobel attempts to disprove God’s existence and becomes a converted follower of Christ. Mom, thank you for providing a lived example, a blueprint for priority: J -Jesus, O - Others, Y – Yourself. Thank you for teaching me money is merely a vehicle for experiences and a tool to further God’s Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20). Please guide my hand, and my heart with your resources; I pray your gifts be multiplied and not buried (Matthew 25:14 – 30). I can never repay you for being the ultimate example of service . Thank you for showing me what sleeping in hospitals resemble, opening your doors to all who needed a mother or a friend, feeding the poor, checking in on those convalescing, praying with and for those in need, placing money in the hands of those without, sharing your musical talent gratis. Thank you for keeping my eyes fixed on God’s Five Heavenly Crowns for Believers , instead of a bank’s average daily balance.

My Queen, my friend, my mother, rest in confidence; each family-related charge given me will be fulfilled. “Every step I take, you take!” Yours forever in Love, Your other Number One Son, Willie V. A mother’s love! Growing up I always remember hearing “your mother can never be replaced” … thankfully that statement was proven to be untrue. My birth mother was one of the most amazing women I knew. She loved me and was the guide for all that I am today until her time on earth ended so abruptly and so young. However, upon getting married I found another mother that was equally amazing in you. Having you in my life meant more to me than I could ever express. To say I love you just doesn’t seem to be enough. You mean the world

to me and having shared these special years with you have influenced me and taught me things that I will carry with me for the rest of my life…just like the love and special bond we share for one another will live on forever. I will love and miss you until the end of time. Rene