My grandma was not the typical grandma in a lot of ways. She
had back problems for as long as I can remember and I think around 20+ back
surgeries. It wasn't easy for her to get around and she was always in pain. But
that doesn't mean I don't have loads of fond memories with her. One of my
favorite memories with her was Christmas day when I was probably about 8 years
old. On Christmas Eve Meme kept telling us she had a surprise for us on
Christmas. We were so excited we could barely stand it. When she finally
brought us into the back room in her house to show us what the surprise was, it
wasn't quite what we expected. Meme had jingle bells, reindeer antlers, and a
tube of her red lipstick. She tied jingle bells onto our shoe laces, put red
lipstick on our noses, and put reindeer antlers on our heads and made us crawl
into the living room where our parents awaited us singing Rudolph the Red-Nosed
Reindeer. It was adorable for the youngest of us cousins who were probably 3
and 4, but I can guarantee you that my 14 year old cousin was less than
thrilled. But it is a story we tell over and over and every time we watch the
home video we laugh over how less than thrilled the older kids looked. Out of
all of the memories I have with my grandma, this one is by far my favorite.
I always have thought my big family was so much fun and
obviously the best. But not until now do
I realize how extraordinary it is. Not just because we get along so well and we
all love each other, but because we all share a common passion. That common passion is for our Savior. That
is something that I think makes us extraordinary. When something wonderful happens, we praise
the Lord because He is good. When something tragic happens, we still praise the
Lord because He is good. And today, we praise Him because the woman we love so
much is not suffering anymore. It hurts
because we miss her, but we also feel so much comfort and peace because we know
that for the first time in many many years, she isn't hurting or in pain. She's
probably running up and down the streets of gold! She seeing things we
can, right now, only dream of seeing and beholding. I know she is happier now
than she ever was down here with us. That's what does and always will make each
day down here without her so much easier.
I love you Meme!!
