The Heart of My Grandmother

December 1999

As a child, there were few things more exciting than visiting my grandmother’s house. During our visit to Midland a few weeks ago, I drove by my grandmother’s old house. When I look back on my childhood a number of funny and random memories hide in my mind. I remember her house always having a beautiful yellow front porch with overgrown flowers lining the whole front of the house. The house sits a block away from the Catholic Church where we spent most of our Sunday mornings growing up. The visits during my younger days were always fun. It was a happy and safe place. This was also the home where my mom and her three brothers and sister grew up and where eventually both of my grandparents passed away.

There are certain people from our childhood that seem to stick with us with unusual impact throughout life. For many reasons, my grandmother has been one of those in my life. I think about her often and I feel her presence in my life even today. She was a beautiful Godly woman who devoted her life to her husband and family. There was a sense of peace and joy about her that now looking back I can only say could come from having a deep personal relationship with Christ.

She enjoyed sharing stories about my grandfather and I knew without a doubt she loved her life. She had a stubborn and silly side to her that helped me get through my parents divorce which was one of the toughest times in my life. She somehow knew my anger and disappointments concerning the divorce ran deep and she had a gentle way of speaking truth into my heart.

She taught me that love is not just a mindless feeling that rides on waves of emotions. But lasting love is one that preservers through some of the hardest trials in life. (And she had her fair share of those). I watched her hope in Christ sustain her after the loss of her husband and the tragic death of her youngest grandson. I saw her suffer the physical pains of getting old and we joked about her silly looking orthopedic shoes. She completed her race in this life with so much grace and dignity.

My grandmother is someone who I truly admire because of her devout commitment to God and selfless devotion to her family. She inspires me to strive to be a better wife, a better mother and a better follower of Christ. She was my earth angel.