Last week we got the call that my Grandmother had passed away. It was a sad time and yet it was also a greatful time in that God called my Grandmother out of the trapped body of an Alzheimer's patient. She was a beautiful lady whom only had love to share with anyone she met. Her voice was sweet and caring as she welcomed you into her arms. I can still hear her and feel her hugs, what a great lady she was. Her favorite things were dancing, laughing, gambling and making fresh bread and she did these all up until the time she could no longer see or know who her Huge family was. Grandma lived to be 97.5 years old and had lived a full life. Yet, I could not help but to mourn a little bit for her. I know she is in heaven and that she deeply loved and trusted in the Lord and this gives me great assurance and peace. I could almost see her in my minds eye and hear her in my heart saying "I am okay now". I must confess seeing her grand babies who are all grown up around her at the cemetary brought many memories and tears to my eyes. She was laid to rest beside my Grandfather and one of her sons, my uncle Ernest who was killed in Vietnam at age 22. It was great to see my huge family of over 35 cousins, just on her side and all my aging uncles and aunts, yet I felt as if the place was missing that Grandma and Grandpa use to fill. It is a place that I must realize will be empty until it is my time to go and be with the Lord. I have laid to rest many loved ones in my life including my own children but it never is a surpirise at the grief we feel just because we feel the loss so deeply. Yes, another branch in our family tree has been released and death is eminent to us all and it feels even closer to me now as my mom and her generation step up to fill the gap between life and death. If it were not for God and His grace and strength, how could anyone indure such losses? We have a hope that in eternity, which is real, we will spend it with those we love and have lost, but even more exciting is that we will be with the God who loves us like noone can, and for this we exist and live the best we can. So, with the help of God, I will go on from this moment in time and begin to create a history for my own Grandchildren who will be just little buds on our family tree. In those places that have been lost to death remains a flower that will forever bloom and stand as a reminder of life after death and carrying on our family's love and memories!!!