Remembering my Grandma

This past Saturday was my Grandma's Memorial service. It was the third time I've flown to Orlando this year, and it was bitter sweet. My Grandma has been battling with ALS for some time now, and Friday August 21st she went home to be with the Lord. I've been thinking a lot about my Grandma, and the heritage she has passed on to her children, grandchildren, and great grand children. I don't have very many memories of her from my childhood, but almost all of them are of her singing. She had a very strong alto voice, and I can remember sitting with her in church as she belted out the alto part of all the hymns. On Saturday as we sang "Great is Thy Faithfulness" and "It is Well with my Soul," I could almost hear her singing along with me. It was hard to get through the harmony.

I count it a very great privileged that my Grandma got to be a part of Meg's life, even if she won't remember it. In January, I flew down to visit Grandma while I was still very pregnant. I really enjoyed being in church with her as she introduced her family to everyone. She would say, "These are my Daughters, Myra, and Denise" (everyone in the church already knew Deborah), "This is my granddaughter, Heather" and then she would pat my belly, "And this is Meg." When we went back in June for the family reunion, she was very excited to get to hold Meg for a while, and loved seeing her smile. Meg would stare at her ceiling fan and smile, and Grandma would just laugh. She had a great laugh!

Saturday's memorial service was good, and hard. It was good to have most of her family in one place. It was hard to know she wasn't with us. There were moments we smiled, moments we laughed, and moments we cried. But I came away feeling like I knew more about her, feeling like I had inherited more of her personality than I realized, and just overwhelmed with grateful for her love of God and family. I know she prayed for us, I know she loved us, I know she wanted us to love God. I hope that I can pass on that same heritage.