After a long hiatus, I have come and gone to see my family up north and back. Monday night I received word my dear Grandma was very very sick, not expected to make it through the night. She did. When she woke up she asked that we all come and gather near her for her last moments on earth.
I dropped everything and flew up late Tuesday night. There was no way I wasn't going to see my Grandma before she left this earth. My Grandpa passed away in December and it will always loom over me that I did not get to say a proper goodbye to him. It was so good to see her. Wednesday we moved her back to her ALF where she had planned on living for awhile until she was stronger.
Wednesday night I spent the night with her, just she and me. There is no way I would trade it for the world. I didn't get much sleep at all, but it was worth it. We shared breakfast together on her bed, side by side. I cried on her shoulder and she hugged me tight and comforted me. By the evening she was starting to slip some. But she held on for my sister and cousin, the last ones to arrive. We sang songs around her bed, read the Bible, told stories. I lay beside her, wanting to hug her forever, as long as I could.
It was a privilege to share the last moments with my Grandma. It was the hardest thing I have ever been through. Its difficult to describe the weight of knowledge as a nurse and the heart involved by being
first a granddaughter. It was difficult, it was sweet. Helping Grandma pass was not easy, not easy at all. The look in her eyes when she knew it was time. There were about 15 people gathered around her bed all night. Me and another cousin stayed up all night with Grandma while bodies lay scattered around the tiny room. I took a 30 minute nap.
At 10:12 AM on March 11, Grandma breathed her last and joined her love, Grandpa, up in heaven with Jesus. Never in my life would I have imagined we would lose two great people in such a short amount of time.

I will remember you forever, Grandma. You had the sweetest, kindest heart in the world. You loved well. You loved to serve others, it was your joy. You were the best wife, mother, grandmother. You always made me feel special, even to the end. I'll never forget how you stroked my face and told me how beautiful I was and you didn't say it because I was your granddaughter, you said it because you meant it. I am so thankful and blessed to have shared a life with you. .
I knew this day would come. It breaks my heart. I know she is with Jesus, I know it. But that doesn't take away from the deep ache and longing I have to see her one more time and hold her close.