Here is a picture of me with her when I was a little girl.
My Papa (Dad's dad) died when I was in 3rd grade. I remember lying in bed at night missing him so much. My Dad's parents lived next door to us and I saw my Papa a lot. I remember asking God to tell Papa Hi and to tell him that I loved him and missed him. Well, I must admit, I still do that! I ask God to tell Meema, Granddad, and Papa hi from me. Isn't that silly? It just makes me feel happy to think that maybe God does tell them Hi from me.
So tonight I am asking God to tell Meema that I love her and I will see her again one day and that she will get to meet all 7 of my children one day. What a great reunion that will be!
When she passed away, my 14-year old niece was the only one of my mom's grandchildren we had. She was 2 months old at the time. The other 15 grandkids came along after Meema died. I found out one week after Meema died that I was pregnant with my oldest child. My poor Mom. Her mother had just died and she found out that her 16-year old daughter was pregnant! Oh my goodness, now that I have a teenage daughter of my own I can't imagine what I put my mom through. But all is forgiven now and we have a great relationship.
I am thankful for such a wonderful grandmother. She was strong, quiet, loving, interested in my life, and kind to everyone. I remember that she always had tears in her eyes after we prayed before a meal. I remember her washing dishes and whistling hymns as she washed. I remember her little red belt. She only had to get it out one time with me! She was a quilter and I had gotten a bag of her quilt batting and was playing with it. She told me to put it away. I kept playing with it. So she went to her bedroom and got the famous little red belt. I immediately put the batting away and never defied her again! I cried because I had gotten in trouble with her. I will never forget that experience. It was such a big deal to me because it was the first time and only time I remember Meema being disappointed in me.
Meema had breast cancer when I was in 4th or 5th grade. I don't remember all of the details, but I know that she had cancer in one breast, then went into remission, then had it in the other breast. It eventually went to her lungs and then spread to her brain. She passed away shortly after the cancer spread to her brain. That is how I remember it happening. She passed away at home. My sister Christina and I were there with her when she died. It is actually a very wonderful memory of mine. Just the fact that we were there meant so much to me. I'm glad I was there when she took her final breath and I think Christina can say the same thing.
I am thankful for her life. I am thankful God chose her to be my grandmother.
7 comments:
What great memories you have to treasure! She sounds like a sweet lady. I loved having my mom here at home and the fact that she died at home is very dear to me. I know that's the way she wanted to leave this earth. I'm sure your meema would be very proud of you and what a reunion you will have in Heaven!
In His Love and Blessings,
annb
Okay, Julie....you know I'm bawling!!! I feel like I've forgotten a lot of things that I did with my grandparents as a child, so I've been recording memories. I am also writing down EVERY time Addy talks about a memory...then I can bring it up to talk about later...hopefully it will keep all her precious memories fresh, so she won't be grasping for them as an adult.
Thanks for sharing some of yours...it's fun to remember, I know.
You know, I don't think I ever actually saw the little red belt....
I've thought about her a lot today too. I'm so thankful that God sent me to our family.
Love you.
I can't believe you didn't see the little red belt!!!! I guess I was just naughty! You must have been the good sister.
Why does it not surprise me that you saw the little red belt? LOL!
I was just scared of upsetting anyone during that part of my life. Obviously I'm over that now. :)
I don't think I even knew about the little red belt until I heard someone talking about it. I'll have to ask Mom if Meema ever got it out when I was over there.
I don't think Meema got the belt out with me but I'm pretty sure Grandad did once, which was REALLY scary for me because I never saw either one of them mad.
I will never forget being with her when she died and how much that meant to Grandad too. We talked about it several times before he passed away. Although it's probably the saddest memory I have...it is very special also.
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