THE PASSING OF A PAIR

Over the past several months, my maternal grandmother has been slowly winding down to the end of her life - and last night, she died in her sleep (hopefully, finally at peace). She had lived 91 long years. And although I knew it was coming, expecting it even... it still made me cry when I heard the news. I was glad that my grandma wasn't suffering any longer - and she had been ready to go for quite some time. I was sad for my mama - even though she was also prepared for this moment, I can imagine it's still hard for her to lose her own mother. I was also very happy that my daughter got to meet her great-grandmother before she left this world; and that my husband spent some time with her, too (grandma loved them both - and told me so several times).

You know "those strange and wonderful things" that happen sometimes surrounding events like new life and death... one of those things happened this time. And I just love stories like this. An older cousin of mine - who also happened to be my grandmother's godson - was diagnosed with aggressive cancer not too long ago and he also died last night, just a few hours before my grandma. When my aunt found out about that, she called my mom and told her. My mom, although sad for this loss of life, said "Wouldn't it be nice if he could come visit mom tonight and tell her it's okay, not to be afraid, and that she should go with him? They always had a special bond as godson and godmother." My aunt said she was thinking the same thing. And I suppose that's what happened... he died around 10:30 PM and just about 3 hours later, my grandma went, too.

I like to think of them - their souls - drifting off to some wonderful place together. And smiling.