So Much Love In One Room

I usually avoid serious topics on the blog but I don’t want to forget this day, even though it was a particularly hard one.

Today, around 9 pm we said goodbye to my grandmother, who was 85 years old. My brother and I went up to see her around lunch time because we knew she was not doing well but after seeing her, we realized the situation was probably worse than we thought so I called into work the rest of the day. The nurse told us she didn’t think it would be long before Grammy would take her last breath so we called the rest of the family and within hours, 20+ people were packed like sardines in my grandmother’s room to say their goodbyes.

My Grammy was a mother of 6, a grandmother of 12, a great-grandmother of 2 (one in the womb!) and a friend to many but she never ran out of love in her heart and as today confirmed, that love was not unrequited.

I feel so incredibly blessed to have been loved by that woman and to be a part of such a wonderful, loving and supportive family. As I looked up today and saw my dad, mom, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and family friends all holding each other together, I felt so unbelievably grateful for the family that my grandparents have created.

Most of us left around 8 pm when the nurse told us she thought it would most likely be tomorrow and at 9 pm, I got the call from my dad saying she had passed. At first I was so upset that we had just left but my cousin called and reminded me that it was what Grammy had wanted; she went on her own terms so she could stand tall for all of her grandchildren and died peacefully with her children and husband in the room.

I have never seen a love quite like the love my grandfather had for my grandmother. He was holding her hand, hugging on her, kissing her and telling her how much he loved her all day today but that is honestly no different than any other day he was with her. This will be especially hard for him so please keep him in your prayers.

I will always love you, Grammy.