“He is God not of the dead, but of the living.”  Matthew 22:23-33  I come from a very close family. At our most recent family gathering, there were some noticeably not there. The week leading up to our planned event was very difficult for me because I knew that my mother would be one of those missing. She absolutely loved these gatherings. As I sat next to my cousin, we began talking about various things, laughing at the maturity and immaturity of our lives. I noticed she had some of my mothers’s mannerisms and attitudes. I so needed to see that and thought to myself, surely God is good. For indeed she lives. My mother lives not just in me but in my family and others as well.