You may have noticed that I went from April 30th to June 30th without a blog post. Just as the school year was winding down, I got a call that my grandma (we call her "Meme") was in the hospital with a blood clot. This was quite a shock for me because I had just seen her the weekend before, looking as healthy and as spry as ever.
On May 18th, a few days after the initial call, I found out a devastating piece of news: following testing of spots on the pancreas and liver, an oncologist determined that Meme had Advanced Stage 4 pancreatic/liver cancer. They estimated that the cancer had been in the pancreas for 2 years and in the liver for 1. After that, I went home to visit Meme every chance I got, but I didn't have much time. Just 29 days after diagnosis, she passed away. In hindsight, it was such a blessing that none of us new, including Meme. She was able to enjoy living (and being in love with her 85-year-old friend Harold) without the knowledge of what was going on in her body.
On the morning of June 13th, I chose to be in the room with Meme when she died, along with a number of other family members. It was the most difficult experience of my life, but at the same time, it was a beautiful memory that I will treasure always and forever. I actually watched her pass from this life into the next. I saw her open her eyes and stare into the corner with expectation.
As I thought about that moment, I assumed that the angels had come for her. Later, while talking to Rev. Phil Bruzeeze, Meme's Sunday school teacher and an incredible man of God, I knew that Jesus Himself had come for her. Phil shared with us a truth that the Lord had revealed to him through the scripture in John 14: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL COME BACK AND TAKE YOU TO BE WITH ME that you also may be where I am" (verses 1-3, emphasis mine). Praise be to God!
I will miss Meme dearly. She was both my grandma and my best friend. We talked on the phone every week, sometimes for as long as 2 hours at a time! I will always treasure those moments of sharing as two grown women, one with a wealth of experience and knowledge, and the other just beginning to navigate the journey of womanhood. I'm sure I will pick up the phone many times before remembering that I cannot call my grandma. Maybe I will call anyway, just to listen to her voice on the answering machine: "Hello, this is me! Just leave a message, and I will get back with you!"
Here is a link to her obituary online. It was an honor and a privilege to write it myself.
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