Good-bye Grandma

At 99 years old, my Grandma has finally gone home to heaven! This is a real celebration because she was ready to go. On Monday we will have her funeral and remember her life together. Even though this is a wonderful day, I feel so left behind without her. During the past ten years, I had made a special effort to hang out with her as much as possible. When my parents when to Hawaii for the month, on two occasions, when she still had enough zip, as she would call it, she spent the whole month on the farm. During this month I would stay for weeks at a time with her, and we would be together. She would instruct me spiritually, and also put me to work. We would go outside and she would point on the ground as to which walnuts were to be picked up, she would teach me about cooking, and we would also just sit and talk literally for hours upon hours just like two friends. In all honesty, she never seemed old to me. It was like we were two girlfriends. She often seemed like a young girl to me. Every Sunday for years, I would visit her in the menno home. She was from a different era. I knew not to wear pants on Sunday because she would be sad to think I would have worn them to church. Our church is really casual, so sometimes I would change into a dress in the car before meeting her so I wouldn't upset her! What struck me about her was how popular she was. Her phone was always ringing, she knew everyones names and their problems - she wanted to know details so she could `know how to pray` for them. She had pictures of the missionaries she supported on her fridge, and always had a bowl of candies or rosebud chocolates for visitors. When I would see her, she would remember in detail what we had talked about the week before, when sometimes even I couldn't remember. She did this all the way until she was 99. I can't even remember where I put my keys this morning. When I was in my 20's, we would talk obsessively about boys. She knew all my boyfriends and our issues, and she had the most amazing, progressive advice. I took it all to heart. And then she would share with me about her own romance with her husband of 65 years. How they met, being in love, how he would pick her up in front of the kitchen window and hold her, and she would cry, `Put me down, what will the neighbors think?' (the neighbors were acres away). She was beautiful right to the end, with her hair done, and concern for her outer appearance, she even wanted to be dressed properly for the cleaning lady and nurses. She always spoke with intention, and wanted to know how YOU were doing. She was a simple woman, who put others before herself almost to her detriment. The best gift my grandma gave me was my Dad and I see so much of her in him every single day. The older I get, the more I understand so dearly, how not everyone has a family as dear and close as I have. Not everyone has a Grandma who said probably 150 thousand prayers for him or her during her lifetime, and not everyone has a Grandma who infused her son with devotion, kindness, faith, and mental health for him in turn to pass onto his children. I see around me often, a sea of lost people who were never given these gifts and I have to sit in awe of the deep blessings I have been given. No family is perfect, but mine is almost as close as it can get. My Grandma was given 99 years of life. She touched people with her prayers, her concern for others and her generous spirit. She wasn't a famous person, didn't change history, or even know how to drive, but her life was lived to the full and she is my inspiration. She will be missed so much, but I know that memories of her will live inside me as long as I live.