Monday, June 2, 2014

Another Goodbye


It seems nearly yesterday that we buried my Papa. It was nearly yesterday. It was nearly 6 months ago. The memories so fresh and the emotions not forgotten.

And now we will bury my grandma who hopefully has joined my Papa in heaven.




This day was coming. This season of life and death had been there all along, but yet the raw feeling of an aching heart has a distinct feeling. You walk around in a slight haze awaiting the inevitable.

Last week was a rough one for my grandma Rita. There is too many medical ups and downs to recount here. Thankfully, I was able to spend several hours with her last Thursday. I hope she knew I was there and heard my voice. I hope she heard me sing the song to her that she sang me all my childhood whenever I helped her in the kitchen. 

A determined and strong woman until the end, she couldn't let go until everything had been tried. 





She was perhaps the grandparent in my life I was closest to. The one I spent so many hours with as I helped her bake, cook and wash dishes in the old farmhouse. It was she whom I would go to see as I walked across the meadow with grandpa and grandma's house in sight. Many summers were spent in the garden with grandma weeding and picking vegetables. Days long gone by when we'd hang the laundry on the line or while she rested in the afternoon I'd sit on the couch near her. The memories of baked bread, coffeecakes, fried hamburgers or an afternoon cake fresh from the oven are the treasured ones that I still vividly recall. 




I am grateful for these memories of my grandma, grandpa and their simple life. Things were tough for them with life on the farm and health issues all their lives. What they couldn't supply in gifts or money, they did in love and little things that have no earthly value. They shared their home with so many family and friends, while sharing pieces of them and their hearts as well. 

While the Church celebrated the feast of the Ascension yesterday, I prayed that my grandma saw that same glory of Heaven as she left this world at 5:30 am. 





I am grateful that I took all my kids to visit grandma, just over a month ago, on her birthday.
That simple visit is the last one my children will remember and it's a good one.




And Jonah will always remember his birthday buddy, my grandma, as we think of her and pray for her each year as Jonah celebrates his special day.




I love you grandma. 

May the angels and Saints surround you and welcome you to your heavenly home.



Eternal rest, grant unto her O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon her.

May she rest in peace.

May her soul and all the souls of the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace.   Amen.

9 comments:

  1. I'm so sorrow for your loss, Sarah. I think, in many ways, grandmas and grandpas make a bigger impact on our lives than even our own parents. Their guidance is love-centered, and we feel it. May she rest in the peace of Christ Our Savior.

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  2. Oh Sarah, this is just a beautiful tribute to your beautiful Grandmother Rita. I'm so happy that God chose you to be her granddaughter because she obviously played such an important role in the lives of those who knew her. What a beautiful feast day she died on, and surly, only to enter the kingdom of heaven! Prayers to all of you and for the repose of her soul.

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  3. Thinking of you and prayers. I really can tell she was a beautiful woman. You are blessed. I loved all the pictures. Thanks for sharing with us ...a little of her life.

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  4. I'm sorry, Sarah...
    I thought of this when I read this today...
    The Hospice Nurse gave it to us when my father was passing...

    Gone From My Sight by Henry Van Dyke





    I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side,
    spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts
    for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength.
    I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck
    of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.

    Then, someone at my side says, "There, she is gone"

    Gone where?

    Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast,
    hull and spar as she was when she left my side.
    And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.

    Her diminished size is in me -- not in her.
    And, just at the moment when someone says, "There, she is gone,"
    there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices
    ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!"

    And that is dying...

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  5. What a beautiful post for your beautiful grandma Sarah. I'm so sorry for your loss. I understand all too well. Brought me right back to those cold fall days last year remembering my grandma. You are in my thoughts and prayers sweet friend.

    Loved the pictures, thanks for sharing her with us.

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  6. What a touching tribute to such a beautiful woman.
    She seemed like a blessing in so many lives and I am sorry for your loss.
    Prayers for her and you and yours!

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  7. I am sorry for your loss and thankful your children will have such fond memories. Your family will be in my prayers in this time of sorrow.

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  8. I'm so sorry to hear this! Your Grandma sounds like a wonderful woman. May you always carry these memories close to your heart.

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  9. I am so sorry Sarah for your loss. I have been thinking about you ever since I first read this post, but I apologize for just now coming back to comment. Please know of my prayers for your family and for your tender heart, along with the repose of your Grandmother's soul. She sounds like an amazing woman. All the Angels and Saints, pray for her!

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You're so kind for dropping me a line!

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