You see, I was not my mama's favorite..my brother was but that's OK because my papa loved me dearly and I was his favorite! :) For a while, we lived right down the road from them and so I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with them. I would always climb up into my papa's lap, dig in his shirt pocket, and find me a piece of candy! He died when I was 4 or 5 and left my grandma as a forever widow! She never remarried and as far as I know, never showed any interest in another man. We all missed him dearly but who can wish for someone to return from the presence of Jesus!
As the years passed, I had the normal grandma/granddaughter relationship with Mama. She made me clothes, taught me how to wrap presents, let me pick all the figs off the fig tree, and loved me! She eventually moved from the house where she had lived for so long and we moved as well. Mama moved into a small mobile home near one of her daughters and we still visited frequently.
I don't remember the order of the things that happened to her but she got sick, real sick and the doctors didn't think she'd make it. (Jeez, its been so long...I didn't think I'd cry writing this all but I still miss her so much). We spent hours at the hospital as she fought for her life. I just remember everything went wrong...she had strokes, heart attacks...When she finally woke up and came to, she was a newborn baby practically. She couldn't remember how to walk, talk, feed herself...she couldn't remember anything. I was such a little girl, I don't remember what all took place but she spent lots of time in the hospital and then in Health South. I can remember numerous visits to Health South and playing Pac Man on the arcade style machine there.
Mama eventually relearned all the basics in life and was able to leave Health South and eventually live by herself again. She was never the same but she was still Mama. She was so funny and said things sometimes she wouldn't have said before she got sick. It was like that part of the brain that keeps you from saying what you're thinking didn't work. I'm laughing now at some of the things she said. When she went back to living alone, I remember not wanting her to be by herself and spent many nights with her. I would sleep beside her and wake up frequently from her snoring. That part was terrible but oh how I would give anything to lay beside my grandma again and hear her snore! I would get up in the morning and help fix her breakfast and then later in the day, we would have our Turkey BLT! I treasure that time I spent with her. We had lot of alone time to talk and cherish each other. I think I became her favorite...(HA HA Adam)!
As the years passed, she couldn't live alone anymore and lived with my Aunt Peggy for a while and also my Aunt Linda and then was placed at NHC (a great nursing home in Columbia). My mom worked as a nurse there and so I was able to come up there frequently. I would go into her room and she would just light up. She did with all visitors. I would sit beside her on the bed and she would hold my hand and pat my leg and tell me she loved me. Some days she would be in the dining room eating lunch and guess what she was eating...turkey bacon BLT. Even though her health was deteriorating and at times she didn't eat much- you could count on her eating a turkey bacon BLT or a cowtail! My mom always kept her stocked on those!
I remember like it was yesterday, I was getting my red mustang loaded with camping gear. My college friends and I were going camping and skiing in the mountains. I was fixing to leave when my mom's phone rang. I answered, it was my Aunt Peggy and she was crying. I remember asking her, "is everything OK? what's wrong?" I knew deep down something was wrong with Mama even before she said it. I remember handing the phone to mom and saying "It's Aunt Peggy, I think something is wrong with Mama." Peggy then gave mom the news, Mama was dying and they didn't think she was going to make it much longer. Mom and I jumped in the car and I drove. We were both praying, "God let her live long enough for us to say goodbye." I sped, ran red lights, and ran to her room hoping to get a chance to see her one more time. By the time we go there, she was with the Lord. I think it was Paul (from the Bible) that said in 2 Corinthians 5:8, "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." Knowing that then did not make it easy. I held her hand, told her I loved her and just sat with her or really her body, her shell.
The days after that are such a blur. I cancelled my ski trip, of course and the family planned an amazing celebration! We celebrated my grandmothers life. Her years of being a mom, a wife, a grandma. We didn't have your typical funeral. The family did the funeral. We all spoke...no one knew her better than us. We worshiped God with praise music and remembered the happy times and celebrated her new life with Jesus!
Here is the poem I wrote and read during the funeral...
A Rose Blooming in Heaven
Shes not suffering, shes not even in pain
Jesus and the Angels are celebrating, a new person Heaven
has gained.
I know shes smiling and as cheerful as one can be
Jesus has made her new again, this I cant wait to see.
She has seen the pearly gates and walked the streets of gold
I'm so thankful she knew Christ for her life was his to mold.
I can see her reaching to Jesus for a hug and a kiss
Arms stretched wide open a vision we all miss.
The tears we have shed and memories we could share
should show anyone here how much we all care.
She had a big part in helping many of us grow
some of us even wore the dresses she once loved to sew.
Rose was my grandmother and had a special place in my heart
but I know shes in Heaven a new life to start.
She was special to each of us in a different way
know and follow Christ and you will see her again one day.
Mama, you will forever be in our hearts! We love you and miss you terribly!
No comments:
Post a Comment