Susie, mi abuelita

My grandmother is dying. It's interesting how when someone says that to me, I feel sad for them, but maybe not as sad for them as if it were their best friend, or perhaps a sibling or parent. I think it's because at my age, grandparents have lived a long life, and as hard as it is, sewing this earthly body back into the earth is just the next part of life. It does however take on new meaning when it's YOUR grandma. I can actually remember thinking as a youngster that MY grandparents would never die. They are so healthy and fun!

As my grandmothers frail body gradually shuts down and returns to it's helpless, infantile state, I find myself thinking about her and what she is leaving behind. Maria de Jesusita, or, gramma susie, has left nothing less than a true legacy on this earth. A God fearing woman with the purest servants heart. Never could you leave her presence without feeling like she tried to serve you, love you, in some way. People would stop by her house unexpectedly, and they would leave fed, physically and emotionally. She would talk on the phone for hours, often without a break in her story :) She was a conversationalist of the truest kind. She could go on forever if you simply asked, how was your day? She loves people, and though she is frail and confused, seemingly beaten by the dementia, her heart and sweet nature remain. Her genuine desire to tell a story and be in the loop remains. I visited her Memorial Day weekend and she seemed to remember who I was, even asked how my sister Theresa was doing. This surprised me considering the stories I had heard about her mental state. She even joked along with my mom and me at one point and I caught a glimpse of the sassy, funny, generous grandmother I had the privilege to know and love in my life.

She leaves behind a Godly family. All of her children serving the Lord, all of their children serving the Lord. As she stated time and again "I may not be rich with money, but I am rich with family." I loved hearing her say this. Thru teary eyes, on Christmas Eve, as we gathered around the Christmas tree for presents and singing, my grandmothers heart overwhelmed with gratefulness for what the Lord had blessed her with in this life, and it blesses my soul to know that I am a part of that blessing.

I know it will be soon that I will join with the family again in California, and this time it will be to honor and celebrate the life she lived, and is no longer living. I know it will he difficult, I also know that we will rejoice in the knowledge that she has gone home to be with her heavenly father.... to walk with him and talk with him, to worship Him, to sing His praises. Wow.... my little grandmother, walking hand in hand with the creator of the universe... perhaps telling him that she was born on January 1st, and is a "new born baby" haha. Oh how pleased our father must be with her. She is loved my so many but nothing compares to the Joy in our Fathers heart when he hears her voice and listens to her prayers and her praises to Him. What and example of a righteous woman. I pray that the legacy I leave on this earth resembles what she has left.

Thank you Gramma, for standing in your faith and always being a woman of character, grace, and servitude. I love you!