I Didn’t See it Coming (International Songwriting Competition – ISC)

The song opens with:

‘I didn’t see it coming
But I knew what to expect
It seemed so very sudden
As I held onto her last breath
Quiet, unassuming
How she lived is how she left
Oh, I didn’t see it coming
But I knew it when she left’

I spent mom’s last three days with her by her side as she lay breathing, waiting for her Lord to take her home. My mom lived a quiet and unassuming life but she was a Southern woman with the strength to endure four children and a husband! Well, five children counting my dad.

Her last child, Charles, passed away. We never spoke of it in the family, and I wish I had asked her about it. I wish I had asked her so much more. I remember the day I moved out of the house after turning eighteen. I had bought a little red Fiat Spider convertible with my younger brother’s paper route money. Thank goodness one of us kids were working!

She was out in the driveway under the hood checking my oil as I packed the biggest suitcase I had. The suitcase was almost bigger than the car, but my mom helped me put it in the little area behind the front seats. With the top down, it fit just fine!

I have many good memories of her quiet and unassuming strength. We all agreed in the family that although each of us had higher education and Master’s degrees that we showed off from time to time, mom was the smartest of us all with a high school diploma.

I remember being quietly schooled by my mom about how to spell ‘ketchup’. I had noticed she spelled it ‘catsup’ on her grocery list on the refrigerator. I had to tell her she had spelled it wrong. I was helpful that way.

She said nothing.
I went upstairs and when I came back down, the dictionary was laying open on the credenza, and open to the word ‘ketchup’, also spelled ‘catsup’, it read. That’s all she had to say, or didn’t have to say. 

She was right. Again.
Quiet. Unassuming. Strong.

It was Sunday morning at 8:32am, on the third day of her just breathing, mom took her last breath. I was standing to the right of her, holding onto her. A small tear fell from her right eye and rolled halfway down her cheek. 

I wiped it gently with my hand…..
I didn’t see it coming, but I knew it when she left.