by Pam Thompson

Created on: February 12, 2009   Last Updated: February 20, 2009

A few months ago, my grandma passed away. She was nearly 97 years old, and is still missed by many. The most precious thing, is that all in our family have such rich memories of Grandma, here are some of mine:

My grandma was an incredible lady. A great many of my childhood memories involve my grandma. She rocked me, she read to me, she sang to me, she taught me the catechism. She loved me, she rebuked me. She was the one who had to tell me that my father had died, and she held me close, while I cried. She had patience with me while I worked out my normal teenage angst amidst dealing with this grief, and loved me just the same. She was there for my big events, my high school graduation, she and her sister took me to college my freshman year, she helped plan my wedding,she loved on my babies.

Grandma taught me a lot. She taught me to love the Lord my God with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my mind. She taught me to be patient with family. She taught me to rock babies and to pat their butts hard. She taught me to cook. She taught me the value of hard work. Grandma taught me that church was not an option, but a priority. Grandma taught me to love my Lutheran heritage, and to respect my pastor. Grandma taught me to pray.

Grandma taught me some fun things too! Grandma taught me to play pinochle (even though I think she and aunt Elizabeth sometimes cheated.) Grandma taught me to always keep a stash of candy around. Grandma used to like to hang toward the back of the room when we were watching movies and then shriek really loud to see us jump. Grandma taught me to laugh out loud, and even to laugh at myself. Grandma taught me the value of letter writing. I'm fairly certain, if she had been born 60 years later, she too would have a blog, and it would be way better than mine...her weekly letters kept us all close while growing up pre-email!

So today, I hold all of my family far and near close in my heart, and I know we are all thinking of Grandma today. We can all take comfort in that we know that she had a firm foundation, and her faith was strong, and that her salvation was secured long before she was born, one Friday on a cross.

So, I will take the verse that I heard in opening chapel that day at my children's school, before I heard the news of Grandma, and find that it still fits my mood for today, for God's word tends to work that way.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." 1 Corinthians 5:17

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