What happened to her?
Today we went to the visitation and grave-side service of our good friend’s grandmother. Brandon and I both agreed, when we pass, we’d like to skip the mumbo jumbo of a funeral service. A visitation, then a cremation, with a memorial of sorts would be sufficient. No sense in us taking up prime real estate in the ground when we can’t even enjoy it.
Anyway, that’s not what I wanted to write about. This is the second funeral we have attended in less than a year. My grandmother passed away April 11th (2007). M’s first comment after seeing her in the casket was, “Nana’s Mommy got killed, huh?” That led to many conversations about death, heaven, and God Almighty. Sometimes we think children don’t really understand death, but maybe they understand it better than we do. They don’t sugar coat things.
M peeked over the edge of the casket while a few older ladies were gathered around it. She had only seen Ms. Emma once before, and for mere seconds. She returned to my side and asked, “What happened to her?” She knew the woman was gone. Laying in that casket was only a body, not the person who once inhabited it. I explained that John’s grandmother had aged, and we all, or at least most of us, will grow old and die one day.
She climbed up on my lap as I went on, “John’s grandma will be going to heaven. That’s where Nana’s Mommy is, remember?”
She nodded.
“And she’s going to be with her family and friends in heaven where they can see God.”
Nod again.
She seemed satisfied with my answer and pranced off to where John’s wife, Ashley, was sitting. Despite the fact we were at a funeral home, the children giggled and smiled. Keagan lit up the faces of everyone who walked through the door, and I was reminded of God’s glory. Small beginnings. Small endings. A story woven inbetween as we go on our journey. And, while dust returns to dust, and ashes to ashes, memories remain in our hearts. Someday, those memories will be lost, as those who hold them will pass as well…. but her story is woven into their stories and their stories woven into stories of others.
And her life will touch those she didn’t know through the lives of those who loved her.
It’s the circle, the circle of life.
