Friday, April 5, 2013

D is for Death and Dancing

Yesterday my friend Sarah wrote a post about Death.  It was one of the first things I saw in the morning as I flipped through my emails. I didn't expect it to be such an omen as it turned out to be.

I didn't write my D post yesterday. So, today it will stand for Delay.
Because yesterday it was for Death and Dancing.

My grandma died yesterday.


It sure brings Sarah's post a little closer to home than it did originally. And I can't help but agree with her that "...part of the human experience is wrestling with the concept of Death." 

I've never really understood the sadness that seems to come with death until now. 
I miss my grandma. 
She was always a big part of my life as I grew up. Since she lived right next door, I saw her pretty much everyday as a child. She always had little cakes and cookies. And at church she always carried mints and lemon cough drops which I ate like candy. 

Her favorite food was ice cream. Her least favorite was steak. She never ate meat that I knew of, not even in hamburger helper, and for the longest time I thought that was so weird. Now, it makes a lot of sense to me. She loved diet root beer, and would often mix it with orange juice which I thought was really gross until I tried it. 

For the most part she was a calm, gentle, and mostly quiet woman. But she had a boisterous laugh, and if she was ever upset or feeding the cats her voice could be heard throughout the entire neighborhood. 


My Movie Star Grandma
She loved cats, and always kept a bucket of cat food behind the door, so she could feed pretty much every cat that would come to her calling (every cat in the neighborhood). 

Grandma loved to dance. 
She was never an incredible dancer or anything. Her dancing seemed more like a waddling sway, but she loved to dance and laugh and smile and sing. 


I know that death is one of those mysteries that we never understand during life. No one can ever tell us what it's like, but I've wondered what it would be like to watch someone die. How must that feel? Do the energies in the room change as spirits shift out of the body? What's the difference between life there in the body and when the life has gone? 

Death is often the subject of mystery novels, but no matter how skilled you are as a detective, always the one mystery remains after cause of death has been determined: Where does the life go? 

I could speculate as many do, but I'm content knowing that my grandma lived a good life and that wherever her soul or her life-energy has moved to, her love will always resonate throughout time and space. 

Here's to the mysteries of existence, the power of one person's love, and the joy of dancing through life. 

Fire Away!

2 comments:

  1. What a wonderful woman and grandma. I might have to adopt her habit of feeding all the cats once I'm old because I love that image. Thank you for telling us about her and her life; it reminds me of many things that I want for my own life and that reminder is always good. When push comes to shove, I also want to have lived a good life. What more could we hope for?

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  2. I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your grandmother! That was a lovely, lovely tribute to her.

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