Until Next Time!
She laid in her husband’s arm reminiscing the past 59 years of their marriage with an innocent and calming smile. With one mighty final effort she looked in her husband’s eyes with a familiar grin and passed away.
Doreen was Jennine’s (my wife) grandmother and my adopted grandmother. She was a devout Catholic Christian. For grandma going to church was not a chore but a privilege. She grew up in poverty, went to work at a young age to supplement her parents’ income, and helped raise 11 of her 12 siblings.
Despite the challenges of her early life she never failed to bring joy to the people who found themselves in her company. I find myself hard pressed to recall moments when she wasn’t filled with contagious joy. Even as cancer slowly tugged away at her life she laid in bed and marvelled at past family memories turning a gloomy atmosphere into one of laughter.
Grandma lived life to the full.
Photo by Rory Bjorkman from Flickr.com
Scared TO Death?
As I read the works of the late writer and cultural critic, Christopher Hitchens (may he rest joyfully in God’s presence) I am reminded of an earlier Greg Garda.
One of the accusations Mr. Hitchens continuously makes towards people of religious belief is that they are scared of death. Mr. Hitchens, along with my former self, believed that religious faith is a crutch that provides a simple explanation for a state after death. It is a placebo to medicate a fear, or “illness” as Mr. Hitchens implies.
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