i don't claim to know it all. i don't claim to be perfect. i just claim to love jesus.

Thursday, December 06, 2012

the reason why...

 at my grandparent's house each year our family takes pictures at Christmas. basically any combination of pictures you can think of...that is what is taken. our family with my parents and sister. just our family. just my sisters family. my dad and his siblings with my grandparents. my grandparents with the in-laws (really called the out-laws)). godparents with god children. and then grandparents with all the grandchildren and great grandchildren. and in one special case...grandma with her great AND great-great grandchildren.

each year we roll our eyes. we conspire and count to three and stick out our tongues all at the same time (true story!). BUT the truth behind the matter is...

when you get a call, letting you know that your great grandma has passed away...you really realize that THIS is WHY you're taking all these crazy pictures. for the memories. ((i clearly have not been good at loading all of my Christmas pictures to facebook in the past few years. but here are some years of pictures with my great-grandma, and my kiddos great-great grandma))

Christmas 2006
 Christmas 2008 (this one is my favorite. my grandma would never look at the camera well, because she was too busy staring at the beautiful blessings around her. the smile on her face brings me to tears as i type this, because i truly know how much she loved each one of us)
Christmas 2011

when my mom called and told me that it wasn't looking good for my great grandma, i was in shock. this sounds ridiculous to type, because i know that people cannot live forever...but i was SURE that my great grandma was going to. i didn't think it was possible for her to die. she was going to live forever. she was over 90 years old and still living on her own. she was as spunky as any 10 year old. she simply was going to live forever.

yet, death is part of life. it happens. it happens to anyone. it doesn't discriminate. life is short. life seems short even when finding out about the death of someone who is over 90. 

and this year when we're rolling our eyes about taking pictures, it's going to be because we're trying not to cry at the fact that there is always going to be one picture missing...

great-grandma, great-great grandma. you'll be missed. an awful lot. i thank God that i've been given an opportunity to have been blessed with a great-grandma for *almost* 30 years. and my kids a great-great grandma. it is something that is a rarity. and a rarity that i'm so blessed to have been given, and have not taken for granted one single second. 

4 loving words from you.:

Jessica-MomForHim said...

I'm so sorry about your great-grandma. She sounds like a great lady who will be forever missed. My great-grandparents all died before I was born, and my last grandparent died when my oldest was 6 months old, so we don't have all those great generational pictures like you do. What a treasure, and well worth all the eyeball-rolling!

Thanks for the reminder that we should be doing this as often as possible with my kids' grandparents, because as hard as it is to think about losing my parents/in-laws, I know they won't live forever either.

Stephanie said...

Oh my, do I ever understand. This - it's like you read my own heart. ((hugs)), sweet friend and prayers for comfort and peace from the only One who knows our pain and carries our tears.

-stephanie- said...

awwww, I'm sorry Amanda. Treasure these sweet photos and your wonderful memories.

Cheryl said...

((hugs)) so sorry for your loss!

May the memories warm your heart in the years to come.

With Hope,
Cheryl