Dear Grandma,
I
hope that you are looking peacefully down upon our family from heaven. It has
been 7 years since you passed away, and yet to me it still seems like you were
here yesterday. I find myself often thinking about that night before your surgery,
when you assured me that everything was going to be fine. I notice that more
times than not, I recall the treacherous news of your stroke, your brain
aneurysm, and the painful month you endured before passing. I miss you so much
grandma.
One
of my biggest regrets in life is not telling you goodbye officially, grandma.
When this was all happening, I was in the eighth grade and didn’t want to
really accept what was going on. Instead, I pretended that I was oblivious.
Silently hoping that if I ignored the blatant reality before me, you would
miraculously get better and be able to respond again. I think that what made me
so scared was that when I did come to visit you in the nursing home, you could
not talk. Grandma, I watched your eyes long to reach out to touch me. I watched
the strain in your face as you attempted to say, “I Love you.” And you couldn’t
get it out. Your stroke had taken you over. So I pretended that if I didn’t
come and visit you when news hit that you were really sick, that if I didn’t think
about it, you would come out of the nursing home and head back to your house so
we could make cookies and play cards and eat hardboiled eggs. I miss you so
much grandma.
So,
I’m writing this letter to finally say goodbye to you grandma. Even though I
know that it is really not goodbye, but more a “see you later,” it doesn’t make
it any easier in my mind. Especially since I know you will never really receive
this letter. But I wanted to have the chance to tell you goodbye, and that I
love you so very much. Knowing that you are pain free now, resting alongside
our savior in heaven is the best gift I could ever imagine.
I’m
writing this letter to thank you for all that you taught me in my short
thirteen years of life. Because of your nurturing, I gained a love for music
that is unexplainable to other people (even other musicians). I enjoyed coming
to your house to show you the new song I learned on the piano that week. I
really loved turning around and seeing your beaming face after I played my
first piece at church one Sunday evening. You were a great supporter, and for
that I thank you. Thank you for taking me to church and making sure I had a
home in my church family. Your guidance and friendship that you had with
members of the church inspired me to reach out and use my talents at church to
make my own friends. Thank you for showing me patience when things in our
family went awry. Grandma, I’m sure that the issues present among your three
kids were part of the reason of your passing. It was a stressful time. But
watching your patience and love with your kids has taught me how to deal with
life when similar situations arise. You taught me more than I could ever
express, and for that I am truly thankful. I miss you so much grandma.
I
hope that, as you look down on us right now, grandma, you are pleased with what
you see. I of course have not lived a perfect life. Our family has fought, and
there is still a lot of heartache. But, it is my hope that you see the young
man I have become and are proud of who I am. I hope that I have made you happy
to know that I have followed your teaching and have continued to show love as
you showed me. Thanks grandma for those 13 years of love, teaching, and
patience. There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t think of you. Give
grandpa a hug for me, and know that I’ll be down here thinking about you.
Love always,
Brice Henry
