Today is Christmas Eve.
Today is about rushing around finding last minute presents, cleaning the house for the plethora of guests that will be received tommorow, rattling boxes to try and guess their contents, and eagerly anticipating one of the best days of the year.
However, today, I did not go to Wal-mart, or Best Buy, or Circut City.
I didn't go to the mall, and I haven't been buying presents.
Today, I went to a funeral.
One of the best people in the whole wide world is dead, and most of the people in the world continue on their hectic pathways, and don't even notice.
The world has lost an angel, a guardian, and a light.
The world has lost a mother, a grandmother, and a great-grandmother.
However, this was unlike any funeral that I have ever been to. True, there were people crying, and I will not deny that I was one of them. However, these were tears of happiness, tears of relief that such a long, difficult, painful journey was over for her, tears of gratitude that she was finally with her beloved husband of 69 years.
We were all, of course, sad to see her go, to see her lowered into the cold, hard ground, but more pertinent were feelings of happiness that she was finally dancing again, and with much better company than what she had here.
Our beautiful angel is with Jesus now, with her sweet, sweet husband, and with her children that she lost all too early.
So now, Christmas has taken a whole new meaning for me. It is no longer about gifts and presents and monetary things. It is about family and love, and of course, the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I guess what I'm trying to tell everyone that is reading this now is to spend time with those whom you love the most, those who are close to you, as much as you can, especially on nights like tonight.
Because you never know when they might leave you for a better place, and then it will be all too late, and you will spend the rest of your life wishing and regretting.
R.I.P. Great Grandmother Loving. May you find joy with the rest of your family and with God this Christmas holiday.
I just celebrate the gifts... :)X
Sorry about your gramma. It sucks to have lost her so close to Christmas.
Nicholas Aden
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I lost my Grampa close to Christmas a few years ago. I know how you feel.
Enjoy the season. I'm sorry for your loss. But you're great grandmother is happy on Christmas :)
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If You Swear That There's No Truth And Who Cares, How Come You Say It Like You're Right? [Bright Eyes]
http://progressiveu.org/143541-how-to-survive-the-2008-elections
Rest in peace
yourfuneralguy
http://www.yourfuneralguy.com
This is much more common than you may have known. The busy time for funeral directors is Christmas and new years....People who pass on at this time...many go to be with their God. Many go on to Dance with Jesus This time of Year.
But Just Like Nick, I enjoy giving and getting PRESENTS, and do a dance around the Presents underneath the tree.
But I never forget the Greatest PRESENT of ALL JESUS CHRIST. :-SS
Rest in Peace Your Funeral Guy.
Thank you.
Really, I'm more happy than anything, because this kind of woke us up and made us realize that family more important than presents.
We're all getting ready to go over to my grandmother's house right now, and I predict an evening of fun, love, and closeness. I don't think this will put a damper on our Christmas festivities at all, rather, it will amplify the feelings of love between us and draw us closer together. =]
The statement below is true.
The statement above is false.
Rest in peace
yourfuneralguy
http://www.yourfuneralguy.com
We are here together on the journey.
Rest in Peace YOUR FUNERAL GUY
I'm sorry for your loss dear. Your family will be in my thoughts.
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Soar high and laugh on the wind
~Fallon~
"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."- Thoreau
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Sorry about your grandmother. Great post, though. I had quite the experience so far this Christmas as well. Last night we had a family party at my grandparents' house. My uncle-in-law's mother always comes to the party too since she lives alone. She went to the bathroom and a little while later my cousin had to put his pajamas on so he opened the bathroom door, thinking it was empty, and he found her unconscious laying on the ground. He's only 5 so he didn't know what to do but thank goodness he ran and got his mom and told her there was a lady laying on the floor. We called 911 and they thought she just fell because she had 3 glasses of wine and doesn't usually drink. So they left and when it was time for her to drive home with my aunt and uncle she started feeling really sick in the car, thinking she was having a heart attack, so we had to dial 911 again. Meanwhile, my other cousin (4yrs old) was sitting next to her in the car. My aunt told me to get my cousin to bring her in the house but when I took her out of the car seat the woman began crying, "They're taking my baby away!" It was so hard to pull my cousin away from her crying Grandma but my aunt didn't want my cousin to possibly see her grandma die. Fortunately the woman is ok. They think she may have broken a rib or something, but we didn't find that out until 3am. Tragedies are no fun but they are unfortunately sometimes necessary to get people to appreciate life and family. Last night I went to Midnight Mass and Eucharistic Adoration and just prayed for this woman for hours on end. Hopefully I'll see her later on today, feeling well, at the next family party.
Rest in peace
yourfuneralguy
http://www.lowercostfuneral.com
It appears this worked out OK...God Bless your family.
Your Aunt was wise.
Rest in Peace.
your funeral guy