Bye-bye Grandma

My grandmother passed away on May 2nd. It was her 73rd birthday. Since she's been sick for awhile I knew it was a good thing that she wasn't in pain anymore. She'd just had her other leg amputated and was always saying that she was tired. Thank God she lived a saved life so that I can be glad in knowing she's in Heaven. She knew it was time to go and she said her good-bye's. She said "I'll see y'all in heaven." The hardest part for me was hearing how my mother reacted. I was still at my cousin's house taking care of the kids when I got the news from my sister. When I got home she hugged me and said, "My mama is gone." I said I know mama, but she's not hurting anymore. And even that night we started to remember Grandma and all the funny things she'd done or said.

So we set out on the road to Arkansas. I was listening to a Creflo Dollar CD when he said this scripture, "it is better to be absent from the body and present with the Lord". So I found it in my Bible, 2 Corinthians 5:8 and we put it on her obituary. Funerals are one of the times when you have very little time to do anything and I must say that the people of Augusta, AR have to be good at this kinda thing. Everytime I turned around somebody was bringing us some food.

I figured I had to be the strong one. Coming from a spiritual perspective, I knew there was not much reason to be sad. Even though I will miss her so much and it will be weird going home and not being able to see her there, I had to be a tower for my mom, aunts and uncles. There were times when I started to cry, but I knew if I got going I wouldn't be able to stop.

We were able to view her body before the wake and she was absolutely beautiful. Her hair in soft ringlets and she was wearing a white dress with a pink scarf. She looked totally at peace.

My little cousins and I sang at the service. I took my time, knowing that I hadn't sang since high school in front of people, remembering this was for my grandma and not about me. We did very well if I do say so myself. It was a packed church with standing room only because everybody loved my grandma. And everyone who spoke did a great job of describing her. My aunt got up and sang 'Walk around Heaven'. When she sang, 'One day you'll look for me and I'll be gone. I'll be walking around heaven all day long.' I just broke. Then my great-aunt got up and said, "I knew her better than anybody, so don't expect me drop a tear. She told me, 'Girl, I got to go. I'm tired. I'm going to Heaven." She knew what she was doing. Even my niece Araia understood what was going on. She waved at the casket and said,"Bye-bye Granma".

Even though it horrible reason, it was great to see everyone. So many people I hadn't seen in years. People I hadn't seen since I was a baby. My grandma was our center. I just pray everyone keeps it together.

Continue to keep my family in prayer.