Bittersweet

Let me preface by saying that yes, I know this picture is blurry. The original is blurry, but it is here for a reason. It was included in the slide show.

It was a bittersweet day: Grandma's funeral. Such a mixture of joy and sadness. Joy, because we know that she is in a better place. Joy because we know that she is "free of the cage" that her stroke, eight years ago, trapped her within.

It stole her ability to choose the words she wanted to speak, and her ability to retain certain bits of information. But, it could never take her joy, her love or her gentle, compassionate spirit.

It was a long day for children. Visitation, the funeral itself, and the burial afterward. Three seven year old grandchildren sat as quietly as they could, showing their respect in a way only they can in a situation that was - as my son said - "BOR-ing".

But, as he sat on my lap - all 70 pounds of him - I realized he was listening. He brightened as the pastor read his name as one of the "Joys of her life". But it was during the scripture time that I realized he wasn't lost in the Pokeman DS replay surely going on in his head.

The pastor was describing the person that Grandma was, and summed it up with Proverbs 31. On Mother's Day, our pastor had called 31:28 to the attention of the children. As the pastor read these words during the funeral service, I could see the cogs turning in my boy's brain. All of a sudden, the ton of bricks on my lap sat up straight, turned, looked me straight in the eye and said, "You are blessed".

He is right.... I am blessed... beyond my wildest imaginings, I am blessed.