Today life became different somehow.

Today we buried my grandpa. As we followed the hearse in the processional, we passed by my childhood home, through my hometown, and down the roads to the cemetery, I considered all that was happening. When I stood in the cold cemetery and looked at the freshly dug grave, I thought of the finality of it all and realized that things would never be the same. Not that they have been the same for a while, but well, I suppose it really sunk in. Grandpa was the last of my grandparents. They’re all gone. Perhaps Grandpa was the last living link that held us to those gone before. As I looked where they would lay him to rest beside my grandmother, and I noticed that my Grandma & Grandpa Mac were immediately to the left. I suppose I knew that they were “neighbors” but I never really thought about the impact of that until today. There lay 4 people who made significant impacts on my life. They helped to create many memories that I reflect on with joy. There in that cemetery lay 4 people who were close friends who began legacies that will continue for generations. Families who’s lives are intertwined by love, friendships, hardships, memories, and much more. I stood there thinking that now I no longer have any grandparents alive. My parents no longer have their parents. Today was the ending of an epoch.

Later in the afternoon, I just sat in my grandma’s room thinking of the fact that all we have now are memories and even though they are great, the sorrow consumes them right now. Death seems so final to those of us still here. We miss the person. We miss the love. We miss the closeness and wonder how things can remain close and the same when those responsible for so many of those things are now gone. Grandma Mel won’t sit in her chair beside the phone or fix her famous desserts. Grandpa Mel won’t sit in his beside the picture window watching the world or tell the kids to “quiet down now”. Grandpa Mac will no longer grab the children with his cane to steal a hug. Grandma Mac won’t fix us a pancake or a cake or fried chicken or pray for us. We can no longer go to Grandma Mac’s or Mel’s because the houses are or will be sold. Things will no longer be the same, and while we no longer have those special people. We will always have the special memories.

My hometown changed today. I feel like I didn’t just bury my grandpa, but a huge portion of my life. Perhaps many do not or can not understand and that’s ok, one day they possibly will. I have been so very blessed to have grandparents in my life who have impacted me in such an amazing way. They loved me, and I them. How very fortunate I am. Philippians 1:3 says “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.” And I do!


Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children.~Haley