What a blessing to have time. There has been time to say goodbye, time to say thank you, and to say I love you.
I've always heard that we should give people their roses while they are living. It has been such a blessing to do this as my grandfather is on his passage from this earthly world to his heavenly home. God has been gracious to give us this opportunity - to give us time.
So many times, life does not afford us this chance.
The problem is we who remain don't know with which of our loved ones we will have the time, at the end, to share special thoughts and words.
The assumptions we make regarding our time and the amount of it we personally have left represents such a false blanket of security. We maintain a false sense of comfort when we measure what we have left to finish and the time that we think we have.
I am compelled to give my roses to the people who deserve them at the moments I have available to me. To wait is to gamble.
I typed up my roses for my grandfather and walked around with them in my purse for a long time. I don't know why I avoided sharing. Thank you Lord for still giving me an opportunity even though I drug my feet.
As I left him on Friday, I leaned down, put my mouth close to his hear and read my written thoughts...
Grandpa,
I want to thank you for striving to raise your children in a Godly home and for bringing up a Christian family. I meet so many people who only wish they had the wonderful heritage that I have and I'm very grateful to you for your commitment to the Lord and to your family. I know that the only reason that I am able to give the gift of a Christian home to my children is because it was first given me by my parents. They only had it to give because they received those blessings from their parents. Grandpa, I know that however much longer I have you with me here on this earth, I'll have an eternity to share this with you but, I still wanted you to know how I felt in time. Thank you who you are, all you've done, and all you mean to me - I will appreciate you for eternity.
As I neared the end of gift of roses, I choked up as I heard him begin to say over and over, "Thank you, thank you, thank you"...
Is there someone you should bless with roses? You will be glad you gave them. The person you give them to will be glad you did too.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
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5 comments:
You are wise beyond your years my dear sister. Speak your 'roses' all these last moments. Soon your grandpa will be living what you and I 'Can Only Imagine' and it will seem like only moments before you join him. Blessings upon your head, Treed
WOW!
~Kanika
Praise the Lord that he gave you the opportunity to share this with your Grandpa
Praise the fact that your Grandpa heard and responsed so special
my prayers are with you all
hugs
love it...i wish i'd done something like this for my mother. to wait is presumption. still, i always felt like i'd shared how i felt about her during her lifetime, so i didn't feel the regret that many people feel who don't invest in close relationships. i wish i'd done this for my grandmother (dad's mom), who passed away a week before my birthday in '98. since i didn't see her often, i wish i'd had the opportunity to give her her roses more frequently.
Treed, above, is my mom. She sent me to your blog because she said it has helped keep her head above water these last few days. Almost a year ago she lost her own mother to a life-long battle with breast cancer. And with mother's day around the corner, she's had it rough. Thank you for sharing your own journey with your grandfather. Your insight will encourage even more, I know.
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