My Mama, My Mama Slipped Away from Us: Family Circle Emergency

By Rochell Clark Irving

On April 24, 2018, Rebecca Alcorn Clark—the woman Rochell Clark Irving adoringly called Mother—slipped away from her and her family. In that moment, their lives changed forever. In a heartfelt retelling of her mother’s life and death, Irving shares insight into the life experiences and post-death remembrances of the first lady of Miracle Deliverance United Holy Church. While detailing her mother’s greatest characteristics, Irving shines a light on her mother’s fighting spirit, her unrelenting faith in God, and her ability to comfort and unconditionally love everyone in her family, despite her own trials and tribulations. As she leads others through her mother’s life, passing, and beyond, Irving inspires others by detailing how she searched for and ultimately found hope in the midst of trauma. My Mama, My Mama Slipped Away from Us shares a daughter’s story of love, loss, and rebirth after her mother passes away.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Dec 2, 2019
• ISBN: 9781684712366

Book preview

IRVING

Copyright © 2019 Rochell Clark Irving.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

ISBN: 978-1-6847-1237-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6847-1236-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019916964

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Interior Image Credit: Camri Demee Watkins

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 11/14/2019

DEDICATION

To my precious mother, who I still love and cherish:

Minister Rebecca Becky Alcorn Clark (November 24, 1943 to April 24, 2018).

To my father Dr. Harry Leon Clark Sr., you are the patriarch of our family and my mother’s only love. We love you.

To my siblings, Sandra, LaTanya, Leon Jr., and Timbla, let’s continue to love and strengthen our family circle.

To the grandchildren, Anthony, Christian, Camri, Braylin, Bria, Damari, Gabriel, and Lafeyette, each one of you is your grandma’s favorite.

To my husband, Paul, you promised to be everything I needed you to be physically, socially, emotionally, financially, and spiritually. I love you and thank you for keeping your promise.

To my son, Gabriel, you are my miracle child, and I love you. Thank you for your patience while I wrote this book.

To my extended family, church, and friends, thank you for standing with us and always being there for us.

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FOREWORD

Family

Love, admiration, strength, and security are a few words that embody family, this institution that grounds self and unites us. It is a woven fabric that endures with great strength yet feels exceptionally fragile when it experiences a loss. A loss that is rooted in separation by death redesigns the once familiar structure of life without the current pattern.

My Mama, My Mama Slipped Away from Us captures the essence of the beauty, pride, and wisdom that is cultivated within the family unit. It asks the reader to treasure others, while building upon a foundation that will establish your inner will, as well as prepare you for the unraveling of life that is inevitable: death. My Mama, My Mama Slipped Away from Us pushes the reader past loss to the beauty of the family structure and the benefits of wisdom, love, and unity. This heartfelt account of a mother’s impact on the family nurtures the heart and encourages the spirit.

Pastor Coretta L. Sharpless

PREFACE

I prepared my book title while still in disbelief. My presupposition was that you cannot function the way you previously functioned once you suffer a loss, or you can never return to a fulfilled life with happiness, joy, and purpose. At the end of the day, we all must search and find answers to help us persevere and make it through our empty, lonely days. That mindset is counterintuitive to my faith. As I progress, I find that God will restore the strength that has