Today, I said “goodbye” to my last grandparent. My father’s mother, Verna Sumner Head Boyd Moses McGraw Jones, died last Friday at 103. She lived a lot of life. She buried four husbands. She saw many changes in the ten decades she walked this planet. As my preacher cousin pointed out today, the year she was born Henry Ford introduced the Model A automobile.
Today blessed me in a number of ways. I got to hug and visit with cousins, aunts, and uncles I haven’t seen in many years. Some I didn’t even recognize. Our family is large. My grandmother had eight children, 18 grandchildren, 38 great grandchildren, and even a few great, great grandchildren.
For the last two days I’ve heard stories about my feisty grandmother who sometimes cussed like a sailor. She loved the color red – evidenced by her choice of hair color. She favored wearing cowboys boots – especially her red pair with the fringe. And she like nothing better than a rousing game of dominoes.
Yes, the day was filled with blessings, but there are also regrets. I allowed physical distance and life’s circumstances to get in the way of relationship. “Could haves,” “should haves,” and “if onlys” kept popping into my mind today. Could have spent more time. Should have visited more often. If only I had known her better.
One important thing comforts me this evening. As we stood today around the mound of freshly turned up earth, my preacher cousin testified to my grandmother’s faith and trust in Jesus. He has confidence that she is now with Christ. She trusted in Jesus as her Savior and Lord. After living 103 years in time, she now walks Jesus in eternity.
I looked in the mirror and observed out loud to no one but myself, “I don’t look like a snow princess. I look more like an aging debutant.” So I sprayed my hair with glitter again and smeared a little more sparkly stuff on my cheek bones.
Two weeks ago, the 40-foot tall Cottonwood tree in our backyard blew over during a storm, barely missing the house. We were saddened, but not surprised. The tree had been leaning for a while. My husband even anchored it with a cable to try to save it, but its shallow root system left it unstable and vulnerable. It had roots running in all directions – the many suckers proved that. But all of them were too near the surface; none of them had grown deep into the ground. A West Texas rainstorm easily uprooted the tree.
God regularly overwhelms me with Himself. Today, it happened while I was driving and listening to the radio. “I’m giving my life to the only One who makes the moon reflect the sun.” These *lyrics, from “Starry Night” by Chris August, hit me square between the eyes.