Cycle of Life

My great grandmother died this morning. She lived to be 88 years old. We've been saying for the last several years that Grandma probably wouldn't hang on much longer, and each Christmas we said would probably be her last. She sure showed us!

We all knew that her time was very short -- especially after falling and breaking her hip last Wednesday. In her old age, she has suffered from congestive heart failure, several infections, and dimentia, not to mention the fact that she refused to give up smoking, but she decided that it was her time to go, so she went.

My mom told me she went and visited Grandma in the hospital on Saturday evening. During the visit, Grandma reached her hand up and held it in the air for a moment. My mom asked her what she was doing and Grandma responded, "I'm waiting for that man over there..." Grandma was lucid at the time, but perhaps not all on this plane.

I'm sure she's happy now, and a lot more comfortable than she's been for a long while. Unfortunately, she did not have the fullness of the Gospel in her life like she should have. I really don't know what sorts of choices she made as a young woman, but I know that the Gospel was a part of her life at one time. I regret that I never asked her more about her life, and that I wasn't as close to her as I could have been.

I'm grateful for the knowledge of the Gospel and for my membership in the Church. I have a relationship with my Father in Heaven and I rejoice in having Christ as my personal Savior. I hope that when it's my time to cross the veil that I have multitudes waiting to welcome me into Paradise. Perhaps one day I'll have the chance to talk to Grandma again, and maybe say the things I should have said here on earth. Who knows, maybe I'll even have a chance to help teach her there. I pray I will.

Love you, Grandma!