Life Is Beautiful And Entirely Too Short...

I had taken a call from my grandma in North Texas.  She calls me every couple of weeks to catch up.  The kids were in bed, so I was up for some late night chatter.  Our conversation went something like this...

“I was training for a new job in Dallas, Texas working nights.”, she began.  “A group of young ladies and myself all got off for lunch at the same time. It was three o’clock in the morning.  We grabbed our purses and headed down the dark street to a cafe nearby to get out of the office for a bit.  I began walking slower than the other girls, when we came upon a group of four men coming toward us.  One of the men was lagging behind just as I was, and when I passed him, he put his hand up my skirt and chuckled.  I turned around and raised my fist and called him a name that was unlike my character, I confess.  He continued laughing and slipped off into the darkness with the other men.”, she went on.

“I was humiliated.  I began shaking all over and weeping.  The other girls crowded around me and one of them became steaming with anger.  She asked me if I wanted them all to take our purses to their heads.”  Then grandma let out a big dramatic sigh to break up her story, “No, I will be fine in just a few minutes.  Let’s just get to the cafe.”, she replied.

“I had no appetite once we got our food.  To think that someone would do that just floors me!”, she exclaimed.

“I only continued working there for a few months in order to earn my free trip to any desired location on the line at the company’s expense.  I hated that city.”, she said.

“That’s interesting, grandma.”, I told her.  Again, I realized that while she lived these moments, she was traumatized and they were engrained into her memory because of the way that she felt as she went through them.  But for right now, they were glue. The glue to our souls that were 60 years apart.  These stories brought me home, traveling 350 miles to her bedside so that I could just sit with her for a while.

“Well, we have had a lot of laughs and we’ve even shared some tears talking about your momma today...haven’t we dear?”, she said.  “We always do, grandma.”, I replied with a happiness in my heart as though a deep longing void had been satisfied for a little bit longer.

I felt my body grow warm as she closed our conversation in prayer.  She prayed the prayer of Jabez over me and my little family.

“ Oh, Lord bless them!  Enlarge their territory!  Let Your hand be with them, and keep them from evil so they do not cause pain.”, she shouted over the phone.  I agreed with her, and she could hear my two oldest coming into my room to tell me they couldn't sleep because the other one was talking.

My children broke the silence and the sweet deep moment we were having with their needs and questions, but those quiet moments I did have with her that day are priceless.  

Alleta
My Mother's Mother
(About 6 Months Ago)

ONE YEAR LATER...

She sits next to me with her frail fingers intertwined between mine.  She looks up at me .  Her body is now frail and her bones are so fragile.  What a difference one year has made.  She will be ninety-one in a couple of months.  I am happy to be moved back home where I can be closer to my family...especially Grandma.

We are all gathered together today to celebrate my brother's 18th birthday.  We stand lining the walls in the kitchen.  But grandma sat perched on her rolling walker.

“I’m so proud of you, dear.”, she said weakly while looking up at me.  “I’m so proud of all that you are doing and all that you are accomplishing.”, she repeated.  “Thanks, grandma.”, I replied. While leaning over to wrap my arms around her, my mind flashes back to the days when she had strength in her back and she could wrap her arms around me with loud laughter.  But today was different.  She would normally never let a family event end without a family prayer, and she always had some deep insight to share with me.  But...today was different.

This was the first time I had seen her strength diminished to the point where she was unable to carry herself to the next room with the strength of her own two legs.  It’s not like her to show weakness.  I don’t like it one bit.  

So many memories within one single life.  What a treasure she is.  She has brought so much beauty into my life.  I love my grandma. 

Life is beautiful and entirely too short...