Fifty Handpicked Souls

While the mother of a mother is often considered “older than Christmas” by youngsters, there is no denying that grandmas are the best cookie-makers, huggers, and cheerleaders. They overlook our flaws and exaggerate our accomplishments. Grandmas always have the right answer and they can negotiate privileges or requests on behalf of a grandchild with tremendous success.  My mother was one of them.

My mother, a grandmother to twenty-three young men and women, was the epitome of “wise.”  In fact, her grandchildren referred to her as the “walking encyclopaedia.”  When it came to doing homework, more often than not, the kids would call grandma for the answer before they would consider researching on the Internet or looking in a book.  Mom was an avid reader and kept herself informed of worldly events.  She understood politics, religion, the environment, and had an uncanny appreciation for the music of Alice Cooper.  Her greatest joy was her family and whenever possible she imparted the lessons of life to her children and her grandchildren.  This was never more evident than in her final days.

As it would be for any family, the approaching death of our mother was frightening and overwhelming.  We also realized that the advance knowledge of her death gave us a rare gift – the opportunity to have loving, heartfelt conversations that prepared us for her departure and allowed us to say thank you for all she had done.  We seized the opportunity and we encouraged her grandchildren to do the same.  There were tears, laughter, memories shared, and memories made. 

In the final week of Mom’s life, we began to schedule “private time” for each one of her children and each one of her grandchildren.  A few of the grandchildren are married, the majority were single and in their 20s, and a few were teens and preteens.  We left it up to our kids if they wanted to go together to talk with Grandma or they could go alone.  As their parents, while we wanted to protect them from the hurt, we made the decision for them to go without us.  We wanted their private time with Grandma to be special and not overshadowed by our feelings of sadness.

In her true spirit of loving and teaching, Mom bestowed each one of the grandchildren with a gift of words – something they could carry with them the rest of their lives.  Each message was different and given spontaneously in her conversations with them.  She articulated her philosophies to them about love, life, and having faith that we would meet again on the other side.  Of all the insight she offered, the most profound statement came in her discussions with my two daughters.    

Mom was explaining to the girls that she was sad she would not be here to see them have children.  Through tears, Dale suggested that Grandma could probably pick their children out for them when she got to heaven.  Myriah joined her sister in giggling and wiping away her share of the tears.  My mother paused briefly, and then reverently stated that she indeed would make it her mission while in heaven to choose babies for her grandchildren – she expected that a total of 50 precious souls would be needed to carry on her legacy. 

Time has passed quickly in the eight years since we said good-bye to Mom.  Each of us holds her memory close and remembers the lessons she taught, knowing that her love and wisdom transcends time and space.  More importantly, we are enjoying sharing life with some of those handpicked souls and look forward to her sending us more!

Photo Credit: Daniel St. Pierre/Free DigitalPhotos.net