A Life Well Lived

If you are hoping for an uplifting, encouraging post...just quit reading my blog right now. It has been a very long week for me, and today I am sad. That's such a little word to try to express how I'm feeling. Just a month ago, I blogged about my dear Gram who passed away one year ago. Today I am mourning the loss of another Grandma. She and I shared no DNA, not "technically" related. Yet, I loved her from the moment I met her in December, 1997. You see, she was actually my Hubby's Grandma. There is not nearly enough time for me to tell you all about who she was or the kind of legacy she leaves behind. She loved Jesus; enough to smuggle His Word to hungry Christians in China decades ago. She loved her two children, and always spoke highly of them. She loved the same man until the day he died. She loved to laugh, and to make others laugh. She had more stories than anyone I ever met!

The first time I met her, I was newly engaged to her only grandson. She and my Hubby had a wonderful relationship; talking, laughing, crying and sharing life together. I remember spending New Year's Eve with her 1998, in her log cabin in Northern CA. Six months later, she was here for our wedding. I remember thinking how beautiful she looked in her blue-purple skirt and jacket. She told me the skirt was supposed to be knee-length, but went to the middle of her shins because her legs were so short.

The summer of 1999, when Hubby and I found out we were expecting Baby #1, Grandma did everything she could to try to send us the rocking chair she got when my Hubby was born. It turned out to be quite expensive to ship a rocking chair across the country, so she bought us one here instead! I have rocked all 4 of my precious children to sleep in that chair.

Last Christmas (2007), Grandma and my Hubby's Mom flew here and spent 2 wonderful weeks with us. Just days before flying, Grandma began to feel very week. She was told that she needed a blood transfusion and would continue to get worse and need more transfusions. So, we spent two weeks enjoying what we were sure would be our last time spent with Grandma. The day after they arrived, Mom needed to do some last minute shopping, but Grandma was too tired. Cutie Pie and I stayed home with her; he quickly warmed up to her, and loved her almost immediately! The rest of the two weeks, if he didn't know where she was he would yell "Bea" until he found her. More than once, he tried to help her stand up from her chair!

So, today, I celebrate Grandma and a life well lived! She will be missed, but she is undoubtedly in the presence of our Lord and Savior!