Our Dear Grandma

My Grandma passed away while we were in Michigan. She would have been 90 years old in August, and she lived her whole life independently and in good health. She had a stroke on Friday, and died on Monday, May 12th. We are so grateful that she never had to suffer, but of course it is never easy to lose a loved one. I will really miss her! We were very close. When I went away to college, she wrote me a letter every single week. She included newspaper clippings and comics that she thought I would like. After I got married, we still continued to write letters every month. When my parents cleaned out her home, they found all of my letters that she had kept in a box. Grandma came to all of my performances and sporting events throughout my life, and always “bragged” about me to her friends. She made me feel so special when I came to her house by making sure her fridge was stocked with my favorite kind of cheese.

The hardest part for me about losing Grandma was that she never got to meet Blake. What is so frustrating is that we were right here in Michigan a few days before her stroke, but we were waiting until Mother’s Day to see her. Of course there was no way to know that she wouldn’t be around on Mother’s Day, but it is still hard knowing that we were so close and could have seen her all week when she was perfectly fine. She was so excited to meet Blake, and told all her friends that she would get to see him in May. She wrote me all the time asking how big he was and what new things he was doing.

The day before she died was actually her best day at the hospital. Even though she was pretty much unconscious, she responded a little bit to us being there. We asked her to squeeze our hand and she did. We put Blake right on the bed next to her and had her squeeze his hand too. We kept saying, “Grandma, the baby is right here next to you, can you hear him?” One time, she muttered a very small, “Yes.” This experience brought me a lot of comfort because even though she never saw Blake, I think she knew he was there.

I have some regrets about not spending enough time with her and not being able to introduce her to Blake, but I have been able to find a few positive things that I can be proud of during her last few months. Last Christmas, I felt really prompted to interview her about her life, and I got it all tape recorded. I haven’t typed it up yet, but I am excited now to write her family history.

Also, even though we didn’t really want to attend a funeral while we were in Michigan, the timing really worked out well that we were here. We got to see Grandma in the hospital and it helped my mom immensely to have Blake here to comfort her and make her smile during the difficult time.

Finally, I have never been the best at writing my Grandma back, but I just sent her a letter last month. She always lit up when she received my letters and I am so happy that she wasn’t waiting for one to arrive when she passed away. I am grateful for Heavenly Father’s timing and I am so glad that I did not ignore the promptings that I received prior to my Grandma’s passing. I am happy that she is now at peace and has had such a wonderful life to be proud of. We will all miss you, Grandma!