Nanny

Just a quick post. I have a lot to get done today. My grandmother died last night, and I'm trying to get things done before we go out of town for her funeral. She was old and very sick and we have been expecting her to go for several months now. My mom called me with the news.

I am so sad that she is gone. She was not always an easy woman to be around, but she was a powerful force and her presence will be missed. I know that she loved me very much, and I loved her too. Apparently when I was a toddler, when my parents made the announcement that they were leaving the country to go on the mission field, my grandmother tried to convince them that I should stay in America with her.

I don't know that much about her childhood, except that it was difficult. Her parents were divorced, in a time when divorce was still considered scandalous and disgraceful. Her father married a woman pretty close to her age and lived across the street from my grandmother and her mom. That must have been a tough way to grow up.

When I was in elementary school, and we were back in the states, Nanny lived on a lake. She taught us how to fish one summer. I'll never forget how she demonstrated the perfect way to cast a line. It apparently was perfect, because she pulled in a huge bass on her first cast. We were all delighted, and of course none of the rest of us caught a fish all afternoon!

Nanny loved to garden, and I'm sorry to say that I didn't get any of her green thumb. Even when she moved into an apartment, and left her beloved lake house, her small balcony was filled to overflowing with beautiful plants.

Nanny was a Christian, and I keep wondering what heaven must be like now that she is there. When I got the news that she had died, it had been less than an hour since she went. I tried to think about what she must be experiencing right that moment. But my human imagination failed me. I only know that it must be wonderful, and that she is glad to be released from her frail and suffering body here in this life.

I'm so thankful that I will see her again. And when I do we will both be in glory together.

Farewell Nanny. You taught me a lot about life. I love you. I will miss you. But I know I will see you again.


When peace, like a river attendeth my way,
when sorrows like sea billows roll;
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

O Lord, haste the day, when the faith shall be sight,
the clouds be rolled back as a scroll,
the trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.