You never really realize how much someone means to you until they are gone. This hit me when my Great Grandpa passed. He was such a great, loving man. My whole life,I had known him as the old farmer-with snow white hair who always had the scent of Williams Lectric Shave lingering about his missed whiskers. I have a lot of my greatest memories with this man. One could only imagine considering living on the same road as most of your family one would have a lot of fond memories, but with him they were more meaningful. This man had something about him, something I could not and still cannot put my finger on. He was a one of a kind with I 'd be lucky to come across as such man as him again in my life. He always had a smile on his face no matter what. His smile was a radiant one. He could walk into a room and the whole mood would shift to something enlightening and calm, almost like a subtle breeze through a wheat field on a warm July day. I miss that smile. I can now only reflect on it through memories of the past. On the morning of June 6, 2010, I knew something was wrong.The birds were not singing their songs. My mother spoke differently. Even the coffee I drank that morning tasted of sadness. …show more content…
She had continued to decline in health after my grandpa passed. She was as great of a woman as my grandpa was a man. To this day, I get a knot in my throat when anyone speaks of my grandparents. Driving past their farm, where a new family now resides, makes me warm inside thinking of all the amazing memories we had made there. And also how thankful I am to have had such a great man in my life. The empty swing whirls with the wind and not with the sounds of happiness. The kittens no long linger at the front door for food. And most of all my grandparents are not in the kitchen window waving at all who honks as they speed by. My grandpa may no longer be strolling between the barns, but there is an everlasting piece of him left in my
I, of course, knew my mother as a mother. As I have reached adulthood and become a mother myself, I have also known her as a friend. My mom shared much of herself with me, and I saw sides of my mother as she struggled with her cancer that I had never seen before, especially her strong belief in positive thinking and the importance of quality of life. I was privileged to know so many facets of my mother, but certainly I did not know all. There were parts of her life that I didn’t see, relationships that I didn’t know about. Last night, at the wake, so many stories were told to me about my mom’s strength, courage, humor, kindness, her quietness, her loyalty as a friend. It was so special to hear of these things that my mom said and did, to know some of these other parts of her life. I hope that her friends and family will continue to share these stories with me and with each other so we can continue to know and remember my mom.
One of life’s most drastic obstacles is the aftermath of the death of a beloved. I found myself in the grieving process most recently when my grandmother passed away a few years ago. My grandma and I were very close and I spent a lot of time with her baking, solving puzzles and enjoying each other's company. This was a very tough time for me as this was my last grandparent on my mother’s side. Having an emotional reaction to this loss was understandable since we had such a close relationship. Even though this was a challenge for me I was faced with the
As I walked through the door of the funeral home, the floral arrangements blurred into a sea of vivid colors. Wiping away my tears, I headed over to the collage of photographs of my grandfather. His smile seemed to transcend the image on the pictures, and for a moment, I could almost hear his laughter and see his eyes dancing as they tended to do when he told one of his famous jokes. My eyes scanned the old photographs, searching for myself amidst the images. They came to rest on a photo of Grandpa holding me in his lap when I was probably no more than four years old. The flowers surrounding me once again blended into an array of hues as I let my mind wander……
I can’t begin to express how hard it is for me to stand here before you and give my last respects to my loving mother - name here. From the biography that was handed out you can recall that during the her early years in the united states she studied and worked in New York where she met and married my dad, the love of her life. They spent the rest of their days loyal and in love with one another. Unfortunately, one day my father passed away with cancer at a young age. My dad was the one who suffered the most, but my mom suffered right along with him. She felt powerless, and for my mom- powerlessness turned in to guilt and grief, a painful distress she lived with on a daily basis for the next six years. When he died part of her died! Life for her was never the same again. I was not able to completely understand her loss- until now…
October 10, 2013 was the day my grandmother passed away. While this may not seem to be significant, this was a monumental moment in my life. Prior to her death, I had been grappling with depression for many years, and with her death, it only seemed to intensify. My grandmother had resided with us; she had become almost a second mother to me. Her death was the first death I had ever experienced firsthand. The experience had been traumatic for me to say the least, but it had also taught me a lot about myself, and life. In the months following her death, it seemed that all my relatives began passing away. My grandfather passed away, two of my uncles passed away, and then my aunt.
After he had sat with her, he got up and walked away to stand near the door. I sat in the chair next to her bed and the first thing I did was grab her hand, I dropped my head down because I knew our time was coming close to being done, what no one understands is how much of an impact she had on my life. There may have been an 83 year age difference between her and I, but she was my mentor, my story teller, my care provider, she gave me the best advice, she cooked the best food, she was the one I always aimed to make proud, but most of all she was my best friend. “It’s okay to cry, sweetie” said my dad. I didn’t want to cry though, that’s not what grandma would have wanted, but I couldn’t help it, I started to cry a little. How was my dad not crying yet? How could he stay so strong, he was much closer to her than I was, but somehow he managed to stay strong throughout all of it. I sat by her for probably 15 minutes holding her hand, I stood up, hugged her, whispered into her ear “I love you great grandma and I’ll see you when I get there”, I kissed her cheek and turned to leave the room. My dad was standing behind me and I walked into his arms and started crying, I couldn’t handle knowing that this could be the last time that I
I have been very fortunate to have known my maternal and paternal grandparents and great-grandparents. We enjoy a close family and always have. Sadly, my first experience with a close death was when my paternal grandma died at the age of sixty-four of colon cancer. I was in the ninth grade when she died and hers’ was the first wake and funeral I had experienced. I remember having nightmares for weeks after the funeral. As I grew older, I lost my
My niece walked up to the tree to sing a song while my uncle spread her ashes, and we all sat on the trailer awaiting her final departure. She started to sing, and then the ashes flew. It was windy that day and it carried her ashes much further than intended; this made me very emotional. I kept thinking, “that’s my grandma; she’s just a pile of dust flying in the air.” I began to cry hysterically to the point where I couldn’t breathe or see. “She was a person, I could have spent more time with her, what if she didn’t know how much I loved her?”, were the words that kept repeating in my mind. My whole family was in shock at how badly I was taking it, especially since I was not close to her. I, myself, couldn’t even grasp why it was tearing me apart so badly, and then it hit me; she died knowing that I had gone nowhere in my life; she died and was never able to feel proud of me; she died with the belief I will always be the person I was. This was the turning point that would change my life
I don't have a lot of fantastic memories of childhood. There were no spectacular family adventures, no unique family projects that taught some sort of moral lesson, no out-of-the-ordinary holidays. We ate family meals together, but most of the time the children and adults lived in different worlds. The kids went to school, did homework, and played; the adults worked. I was lucky, though. When I wanted a little of both worlds, I could always turn to Grandpa.
Having someone in your life that you consider special is a wondering feeling. And when this person has played so many different roles throughout my life it’s a magnificent feeling for her to feel so accomplished and so admired. When I think back to everything I’ve done I can’t look over the fact that the reason I did it is because she made me the fantastic person I am. I’m glad she passed all the things on to me and I hope I can do the same to next generations. The traditions that we have created are known throughout my entire family and I’m glad that we were both a part of them. She is an extraordinary person and I look forward to all the great memories I still have left with her to create. My Grandma is with out a doubt the most influential person in my life and I’m so grateful for her presence.
Dealing with the grief of a loved one is not an easy task. Only time can heal the pain of someone you’re used to be around is suddenly gone. When my uncle passed it was the first experience with death in which I was old enough to understand. Nobody really close to my family had passed away before, so I was unprepared with the pain and sadness that came with it. I also thought about it but I never really thought of something like this happening to me. I wish I had spent more time with my uncle, but I never thought about it because I never thought he would passing away so quickly. This is always why it is good for every day to show your family how much you love and appreciate them because you never know when their last day on earth is.
As I prayed in the dimly lit church, the swirling smoke arising from incense took my mind back to my childhood years. The golden rays from the sun during the sunset hour did not seem as resplendent, bright, and cheerful as they usually were. The warm late afternoon air got cooler with the soft winds. The cool tropical breezes always brought healing and yielded a new desire to live despite all the problems. Sundown was on its way and summoning many birds to their lovely nests.
Two years ago today my great grandmother passed away from old age and suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. Although all of my memories with her are vague, I will never forget the happiness that emanated from her when you were around her. Even in her last days, when she could barely remember her own children, you never saw her without a smile on her face. And that to me is something that I will carry with me for as long as I
She said, “I’m a grandmother, my love for you is just like having another daughter.” I realized that she was my biggest supporter and teaching me how to be independent was something she did from the bottom of her heart. She also felt that since my father wasn’t in my life that I deserved to have all the support from family. My mother is a single mom and my grandmother stepped up to the plate and helped where my mom fell short. I will always have the up-most respect for my grandmother because she went over and beyond for me. I felt as though my grandmother did everything out of love and not because she felt obligated to. She hasn’t missed a beat in my life, every school performance, dance recitals, and band performance my grandmother was there. I am forever grateful for everything that she has done and for things that she has yet to
When I think back to the days when I was a child, I think about all of my wonderful childhood memories. Often I wish to go back, back to that point in life when everything seemed simpler. Sometimes I think about it too much, knowing I cannot return. Yet there is still one place I can count on to take me back to that state of mind, my grandparent’s house and the land I love so much.