Another Angel in Heaven!

I begin this blog today with a fullness in my heart. This weekend, we laid my grandmother to rest. She was 80 years-old, and lived the kind of life most people read about. She was kind, compassionate, funny and the type of person that could do just about anything.

As I sat in the church during the funeral, I heard person after person talk about how faithful and loyal and incredibly dedicated she was. It hit me, we truly write our own obituaries. How we live our lives, no matter how imperfect we are, our life story will always be written based upon the actions we made throughout our lifetime and the lives that we touched. It made me think about my daily comings and goings and whether people will be able to say the same types of things about me.

I realized that I genuinely liked my grandmother at a young age. She was the type of person that you just enjoyed being around. She was known as a "jack of all trades," which my family said I inherited from her. I believe that too, ever since I was a little girl, I have been good at doing a lot of little things. One thing I loved about her was her sense of philanthropy. Every year at Christmas time, she often volunteered to feed the homeless and wrap gifts for the poor. I often would help her out and it too gave me a sense of peace. Another trait I loved about her was her sense of humor. My grandmother was really funny, and she could get so tickled about the funniest things. Laughter truly is a gift from God and I just believe that she made sure that she got her daily dose.

Another thing my gram taught me was about marriage and family. Although my grandparents divorced and both eventually remarried, my grandparents were an ideal American couple. Both came from poverty in the South and made their way to Chicago to make a life for themselves. Soon after they met, they got married and began a family. What I loved about them, was for two people who didn't have a lot, they sure did a lot together. They obtained properties together, they ran their own business, they often rehabbed the property they owned, sold or rented it. That made me realize how much anyone can change their own situation. My grandmother picked cotton as a child, and came to Chicago and ended up being a landlord, owning a business and being a tax consultant. She showed me the ultimate possibility of life for someone, especially an African-American woman.

I don't feel sad anymore, instead I feel an overwhelming sense of happiness for her. She made her flight, received her wings and has been reunited with my grandfather. Life is a short journey. We have to truly make the most of it, while we're here. I plan to do that for as long as I am here. But for now, I am truly happy that I have another angel watching over me in heaven!