This week my husband lost his grandmother – his last remaining grandparent. She lived without her husband these last ten years and has been missing her mother since she was 12. She remained strong for quite a few years until she had to go into a nursing home due to repeated falls. She was as sharp as a tack until the day she died though. We were able to visit her last summer and have a delightful conversation. She was so grateful to see us even though we came straight from our camping trip. We just didn’t want to put it off another moment since it had been so long since we had seen her.
There were mixed emotions with her passing. I don’t think anyone is ever ready to lose someone so close. No one can replace our loved ones. But there was also comfort because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We sincerely believe that she is happily reunited with family and that she will be resurrected and have a body that fully functions again. She fell so many times trying to do things on her own in the nursing home and kept trying even though she broke several bones. It fills me with so much joy to know that her body will be restored and will never have to suffer like that again.
I don’t know how I would handle such loss without the knowledge that there is life after death. It’s not the end, but the beginning of so many amazing things we can’t even comprehend. Still, it seems like such a long separation when we lose someone so wonderful.
This is one of my favorite scriptures to read in The Book of Mormon and one that is displayed where my relatives are buried. It has always been such a comfort to me. Alma 40:23:
The asoul shall be brestored to the cbody, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a dhair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and eperfect frame.
This scripture has also helped me not to worry about the effects of aging because I know my body will be perfect again. I wouldn’t mind being like my husband’s grandma someday with a head full of white hair and lots of wrinkles. It just shows that she lived a full live and worked hard. And having lost people I love at young ages, I’m going to embrace my wrinkles and gray hair with gratitude because I got to live long enough to have them.
I’m so grateful for our Savior who made it possible for us to live again with Him and our Father in Heaven.
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