Tuesday, 11 November 2008

• Last week, I was in Vermont to watch my grandmother's life slip away.  She was 80 years old and has been sick for quite some time, however, each time she has been in the hospital before, we've watched her make some amazing come backs.  This time was far different.  No one questioned this was the end.  So, we made her comfortable and for six days we never left her side.  We slept in the same room, taking shifts watching over her.  Meals were brought to us.  We bathed, feed, and watched over her.  At one point, it was very scary as she began choking.  My sister and I were the only too in the room and together, we managed to help her calm down until my aunt, the registered nurse, arrived from the room over.  After that though, she would never open her eyes again.  Instead, at the last, she would take one deep breath and in seconds was gone.
              How do you measure that life?  Is it in the time here spent?  Or perhaps the things that were earned?  Is the legacy in what was accomplished or in what was left behind? Perhaps, it is in both.
              My grandmother was married to the same man for 58 years.  In that time, she had five children, 15 grand-children, and 16 great grand-children, along with 10 children or grand-children by marriage.   Is that an accomplishment?  Her marriage certainly is.  I think the accomplishment here, is not in the numbers, but in the stories.
              Each of these people not only knew their mother/grandmother, but felt her love and pride in them.  She remembered each birthday, she invested in each life, she took time to pray every day, she lived her faith in front of them every moment, she told her stories of her past and listened to the stories of their own.  This woman was not just a mother in name, but in heart.
              Her children and grand-children have their own stories of this amazing woman. Each time my own mother gives me a hug, it is because her mother gave them to her.  My mother has certain rules and sayings because they came from her mother. Our parent's marriage is strong because our parent's saw their mother's strong marriage (Yeah, PopPop had something to do with that one too!).  My cousins have strong marriages, because our parents and grandparents did.  Our parents tell us stories about their childhood, because my grandmother did the same.  My parents have a strong faith because my grandmother's faith never wavered and she had plenty of opportunities!  My grandmother's legacy trickles down the line to each of us.
              Her great-grandkids may not remember her words or her touch, but they will know her love.  That was my grandmother's legacy, her love and her faith. While Nana is now up with her Lord and Savior, her story is fully intermingled with His story and together they will trickle down through the ages of time.
              Thank you, Nana, for the stories and the lessons of love.  I will share them with my own children and as your love is passed through the generations, so is your life. 

  I love you, Nana!

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