Sad Weekend..

It was quite a weekend- very busy and very sad. My grandmother's viewing was on Sunday and her funeral was today. My sister and I read from the New and Old Testament. The reading my dad selected for me was from Proverbs 31. The ironic thing about this is that I just became a consultant for Thirty-One Gifts, which is named after this particular reading in the Old Testament. It is a celebration of women and as I read, I realized that it really described my grandmother. She took care of her family until the day she became very sick.

So, it was an emotional day. My grandmother lived a long life, blessed to be here with us until the age of 83. She suffered, but only for a short period of time. She never had to hear that she had cancer- never had to face the reality of her death. I imagine that she knew her time was limited, as she was 83, and was beginning to feel 83, but no one ever had to tell her that she was going to die in a very short period of time. But, despite all of this, I and my family, feel sad not to have her anymore. I feel especially sad for my grandfather who lost his wife of 60+ years.

As I walked into the funeral home today, knowing that this was going to be our final goodbye, I cried. I was holding Landon and he looked at me with a very concerned look on his face. He then reached over, pressed his lips together and gave me a kiss (including the muah sound effect!). He did this almost every time he saw me crying. What an empathetic little boy we have, right?! =0)

He was a breath of fresh air this weekend. He crawled around the funeral home like we were at home. He's quite a ham! He blew kisses, gave kisses, chased my aunt around while hysterically laughing (don't you just love a belly laugh out of an almost 19 month old?). I noticed my grandfather, as he sat on a chair by the casket, smile and laugh as Landon kept crawling up to the casket and climbing on the kneeler. He was very persistent about wanting to give his great grandmother kisses. How could he not? She was lying so peacefully and looked so beautiful (it sounds strange, but was true!). I convinced him to blow kisses.

Landon was really a perfect little angel this weekend. He entertained at the funeral home and sat quietly at church (he entertained himself in church by brushing his hair with a brush he found in my purse). I know that his great grandma was smiling as she looked down on him.

And as always, Jimmy and I were overwhelmed by the generosity of family and friends. My grandfather included in the obituary that people can make donations to the Cystinosis Research Foundation in memory of my grandmother and in honor of Landon. People did just that. My grandmother adored Landon and worried about him more than I think she let on to anyone. Many candles were lit for him by her and anyone who she could talk to about him. I believe that Landon has several angels looking down on him, but I know this one in particular will watch very closely over him. We love you, Gram!