Gigi

Sometimes I think that the best measure of a person's influence in life is the hole they leave when they die. I don't want to engage in hyperbole, which is always a temptation when people die, but Grandma's departure has left a huge hole in the fabric of her family. That is obvious to me. It's hard for me to imagine future family gatherings without her being there. She and Umpa were twin architects of a wonderful family, which has been a tremendous blessing to me personally, and it must be noted  that the family's culture flows naturally from their personalities. Grandma was kind, warm, generous, honest, hard-working, conservative, fun, adventurous, unpretentious, and comfortable in her own skin. In many ways this is a fair description of her family too.  I will always be grateful to her for the family she formed with Umpa, and which I was fortunate enough to marry into. Above all, my heart is heavy for Umpa who finds himself alone without his partner of 64 years.

These days will come to us all. It's a sad truth. They can't be sidestepped or avoided. They must be dealt with and understood because even now, they are coming as surely and unalterably as the rising sun, cresting the horizon and moving toward us. If we are given many more years under the sun we will mourn and bear witness to these days time and time again, and one day it will be our turn. This day will come to us all.

Grandma was ready.

There is one more descriptive term for Grandma, which I would be remiss not to mention- she was a follower of Christ. I think that to say otherwise would be a serious misrepresentation of the woman. I know the reality of her faith from my many conversations with her, and she often told me that this was her desire for her family as well. God was at the center of her life, and I believe that she wanted very much for God to be at the center of her family as well. She was a spiritually-minded person and she knew that this day was coming. By God's grace she was well prepared for it. She lived her life with an eternal perspective, and an an abiding, governing faith in Christ. I believe that she has stepped outside of time. She has shed her old body for a new one and is even now seeing things that no eye has ever seen, hearing things that no ear has ever heard, and experiencing things that no mind has ever conceived of. She is in the presence of her Lord, and her Hope, Jesus Christ.