Friday, November 11, 2011

90 Years

~Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives.~ Psalm 90:14

She has been alive for 90 years. She has seen the seasons come and go. Her memories, when she could retrieve them, reached to the days before WWII. She and her husband raised two children, and she survived lung cancer to meet both of her great-grandchildren.


When I was pregnant with Nathan and still working, I would drive over and meet her for dinner at her retirement home. She would tell me stories of her own pregnancies and the early days of life with her babies. She had loved being pregnant, and always complimented my growing belly.


I felt so steady and confident about becoming a mother as I shared this anticipation with her - she had walked this path decades before me, and could still speak of the indescribable joy and fullness of carrying a child. Her eyes glowed as she remembered.


Her memories are softer and further removed now, and she struggles for words. She is gently slipping into Alzheimer's Disease and old age, yet that light is still in her eyes when the boys come near. Our visits are more frequent and brief, but still a blessing to me. I am thankful for the season of adult friendship I shared with Grandma. I am thankful for her love for and satisfaction in the Lord. I am thankful for her generosity and strength. I am thankful for her selfless concern for others. I am thankful for her whispers of love to my sons.


I am thankful for memories shared.

2 comments:

Karen Mayes said...

Wiping a tear from my eye... what a lovely lady. So sweet.

Aunt J said...

What a wonderful tribute. She loves you so much.