My Grandma

~Posted by Bianca (Tribute written to share at the funeral)

Dear Grandma:

The last time I stood here in this sanctuary, you were in front of me sitting in your wheelchair beside the second pew. You were dressed in your favorite blue dress, wearing your string of beads. Today, you’re still in front of me, wearing that same blue dress and beads. But you’re not really here. The Grandma I knew and loved isn’t here.

God had impressed on my heart the last time we saw you that we wouldn’t see you again. The rest of the family expected you would live at least a few more months. But for some reason, I just knew you wouldn’t be here in March when we were scheduled to come and visit again. The day of your death, I told Mom that very morning that it would be ironic if you and Grandpa passed a month apart. I never dreamed that less than 12 hours later, you would already be with him.

When we got the call at 11:00 p.m. that you had passed, I was hurt and angry. Why did God allow us to lose you and Grandpa just three weeks apart? Didn’t He know that my shattered heart still hadn’t healed from losing Grandpa? Why didn’t He allow us to have time to say goodbye, to be by your side when you passed? How could He take you away from me?

But following those questions, God immediately brought to mind the answers. HE is sovereign over all and His timing is absolutely perfect. He has known the day and hour of your death since before you were born. He knows the pain I’m feeling because He experienced it. He experienced far more pain and hurt than I ever will. He endured that pain so that you and I could have the hope we have in His salvation!

It’s selfish of me to think of God taking you from us, when really, He GAVE us far more time with you than we ever imagined we would have. When you were diagnosed with emphysema in 1997, the doctors only gave you 5 or 6 more years to live. You made it 16 more years. When you were diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2006, you should have only lived a couple more years. Seven years later, you defied the odds.

Now for the first time in decades, you have no breathing problems. You don’t have smoker’s cough. You can run and never grow winded. Your body is no longer in pain from arthritis. You can eat and drink and never have to worry about whether or not you’ll be able to eat and drink tomorrow. Your hands no longer tremble. Your memory is sharper than ever. You are no longer wheelchair bound. And best of all: you will be with your sweetheart of 57 years this Valentine’s day.

I will miss your funny expressions, seeing your face when we kids finally understood the joke you were telling us, warming your coffee, talking about national events over dinner, your sweet potatoes, sharing the newspaper with you, sitting out on the back porch watching the birds, going to the beauty parlor with you, listening to the funny stories of your growing-up years, your sharp observations and memory, and your blunt but kind way of speaking. Your death has left a gaping hole in my heart that only the God of all comfort can fill. I can’t wait to join you before His throne someday soon. It’s not “Goodbye”, Grandma. It’s only “See you later.”

Love Your Granddaughter,

Bianca