April 2019 Archives
A Tribute to Grandma
My grandma isn’t well known. In fact you may be wondering why I would write a tribute to her when I typically feature Southern Gospel artists. Well, as with parents, grandparents can help to contribute to how a person turns out. They can pass along their interests and other genes which help to form our young and, ultimately, old lives.
I didn’t know my grandparents before they came to know the Lord but I heard that the difference was night and day. Whereas they would play and sing in night clubs before, they chose to only sing in churches after they were saved. They would sell their records for $5 or “whatever you can afford.”
Grandma was young when I was born so she would play ball with my brother and me, take us for ice cream, do typical grandma things, but she would also encourage me to obey my mom, honor the Lord, etc. She wanted to be a positive influence in my life.
For the first 17 years of my life, we didn’t live close but, when we would visit, I spent every moment I could with Grandma. I would go with her to “help” make the church breakfast, fold bulletins, run errands … whatever Grandma was doing, there was I in the midst of it. Whenever she sat down, I was on her lap before she could get comfortable.
When we moved closer to my grandparents, Grandma would drive a couple hours to help us with a collating project. She was a quick collater too.
A number of years ago, we began to suspect that Grandma had dementia. It began to get worse and worse until we could no longer ignore the fact. We also knew that it was becoming more than Grandpa could handle on his own. So in 2017, we made the difficult decision to move our grandparents to Arizona where their daughter and grandson could care for them. We no longer saw them on a weekly basis but we were able to visit them twice, the most recent visit being in January. I will always be thankful for our time together as Grandma joined me in singing for the last time. We spent a lot of time together and, in spite of her not feeling well, she hadn’t lost her sense of humor.
We buried Grandma on Good Friday. I dreaded that day for so long but God’s grace truly was amazing. I have no doubt that my grandma is in Heaven. My aunt asked if I would sing at her funeral, and God gave me strength to do so with my brother accompanying me on guitar and vocals. I’m thankful for the promise that, if I remain faithful to the Lord, I will see her again. I greatly look forward to that reunion!
