On Tuesday evening, the 24th July 2012, my wonderful Grandma left this earth and went to spend eternity with her saviour. She was a woman who undoubtedly belonged to Jesus, and His heavenly kingdom will be all the richer now she has taken her place in it. A friend wrote on my Facebook wall that, 'A human life is a wonderful story told by God' and in my Grandma's case, I would also add that her life told the story of her wonderful God. I can remember sitting with her in the kitchen while she sang 'Thine be the glory' (still one of my favourite hymns), which contains these wonderful words:
Let the church with gladness, hymns of triumph sing,
For her Lord now liveth, death has lost its sting!
I have absolutely no doubt that Grandma is with Jesus and that she is now complete in Him. Right now, the sadness of those of us left behind is great and at times feels cruel, but even in my darkest moments since I found out on Wednesday, I have felt a deep trust that all is well with her and that God is in control, even while our hearts feel shredded and bruised with loss. It is not enough to say that I loved and continue to love my Grandma, because although I do from the bottom of my heart, that doesn't begin to describe how she inspired me with her will and determination, how she made me laugh with her wit, or how she instilled in me a deep confidence in God.
I am so blessed that I have countless happy memories of times spent with Grandma, particularly in the last couple of months, as Sarah and I visited her on her birthday and then more recently she came to my birthday party (which is where the first photograph is from). One of my favourite 'Grandma quotes' comes from her birthday, where she was talking about the story of Adam and Eve and then declared, full of conviction, that 'the only one who came out of that sorry mess with any self-respect was the serpent, because he didn't try to blame anyone else!' That was also the day that she allowed herself to be talked into trying a floater coffee for the first time, something which she thoroughly enjoyed (although Grandpa would have been mightily suspicious).
Grandma was co-collaborator in many of mine and my sister's schemes, from the time we locked Grandpa in the garage to the time we accidentally pulled the door in the front bedroom off its hinges. She dutifully stood in Toys R Us, having been instructed to 'look like she knew what she was doing' on the computers (a new and exciting thing in those days!) so that I wouldn't miss my go while I was going to the loo. We spent countless happy hours in Cannon Hill Park (and consumed a fair number of ice creams too!) and she was endlessly patient when I insisted on spending far too long in the book shop. A trip to Toys R Us rarely ended without us having acquired a new game, and she was always ready to try it out with us when we got home (which is how Grandpa ended up as possibly the only adult in the history of the world to force a board game into injury time when he got hit on the forehead with a plastic frog). She is also the only person I have ever known to serve 'tongue' for lunch or attempt to drive in the exit of Burger King's drive-thru.
