Sometimes, I think we get so caught up in the ordinariness of every day that we forget life is ever-changing. Obstacles, milestones, and photo album moments may not come around every day, but when they do, they make their mark. And that’s when the humanity within us is most visible.
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| My Grandma and Pawpaw (a while back) |
The past two weeks have brought a whirlwind of life’s different stages. About a week and a half ago, my grandmother left this world to be with her family in Heaven. She had been battling Alzheimer’s for a while, so even though we are missing her, there is no doubt that she is so much happier and at peace now. Still, it doesn’t really seem like she’s not here any more. No matter how time changes things and pushes us to carry on with our everyday lives, her time with us won’t be forgotten. And really, it’s only a matter of time before we’ll all be reunited again. I’m sure she wants us to know that, especially since she’s probably all ear-to-ear smiles now.
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| Me and Grandma at my wedding last May. Look how pretty she is. 🙂 |
Hey, Grandma. I’m sure you’re having lots of fun right now, probably chowing down on Honey Buns and cordial cherries. Just wanted to let you know that you’ll always be my favorite pedicure buddy, and I doubt I’ll ever meet anyone else who will shop at Target with me for hours without getting bored.
Tell Pawpaw I say hey . . . love you both. 🙂
Tell Pawpaw I say hey . . . love you both. 🙂
And just as life brings us sadness, it brings us delight and celebration. The morning we said goodbye to my grandma, we also watched my little sister walk across the stage at Radford University for her college graduation. My little sister has a college degree–how weird is that?
She rolled her eyes a lot that morning at the fuss we made and the photos and videos we took, but I think she kind of understood how proud we all were of her. Basically, I have the smartest and most driven sister there is. Siblings don’t come much better than that.
Love you, Sue.*
*(P.S. By “Sue,” I mean “Carolyn.”)
Then, of course, there’s the joy that new life brings. It seems like all my friends back home are raising little ones of their own now, and that includes my friend, Rylee. I was fortunate enough to be able to visit Rylee at her baby shower last weekend, and got to see lots of other old work friends, as well. As you can see from these photos, Rylee has a lot of people in her life who love her, and her son will no doubt be loved just as much when we all get to finally meet him.
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| Baby love. |
So, for a week or two that have turned the world upside-down, I definitely feel the impact of change. Change that makes us cry, beam, or become giddy . . . it’s overwhelming. But it also shows us the presence of love. And clearly, that’s something we never stop learning about.
