My Dear Grandma

Grandma was an ordinary woman that loves her family very much. I think that her love for us was so big that her heart can’t hold of it. Just imagine an overblown balloon that burst in the end when it contained too much air, do you get what I'm trying to illustrate? ; ) Maybe this is the reason why most grandparents dies with heart problems because they have too much love in their hearts through out these years.

Grandma would always tell us and her children how much she loved all her grandchildren very much; we would smile back and tell her we love her too.  Frankly, I would love to hear those words again… we all do.  Looking back, she loves to eat chocolates and to drink coke.  I remember when she was in the ICU and the nurse was preparing to feed her through (Nasogastric Tube Feeding) NGT, she looked at us and ask what was happening, we then told her that it was time for her meal, she then asked for a coke.  Yup! She was a “coke addict.”   Another thing about grandma was that her laughter was so loud and it sounded like Santa’s laugh.  Many of her friends would agree on this one for sure.  Her tummy would even move up and down when she laughs.  Her laughter was loud yet it was the most genuine one of all.

As a child I used to stay at their place during weekends and summer vacation.   When I woke up in the morning she was already sitting in one corner and was already praying the rosary.  In fact, she never miss a single day praying.  I think we all should follow her footsteps with regards to this, to first give thanks to God when we begin our daily routines.  True indeed that unlike my granddad, grandma would stay at home during Sunday.  Honestly, I could count the days that I saw grandma went to church when I was still a kid. And it was not because she doesn't want to, but her knees were weak and walking was already causing her some pain.  

Last February 28, she was admitted to the hospital because she was hiding the medicines that she was supposed to take.  On March 3, when I arrived from Manila I went to the hospital to see her.  When I came in, I smiled and said, "Lola, ba't mo tinago yong mga gamot mo?" (Grandma, why did you hide your medicine?) , she smiled at me and said, "Mahal na mahal ko talaga ang mga apo ko"(I really love my grandchildren).  I fooled around and asked my mom to take a picture of us.  I never thought it would be our last picture together.

Few days after, she was again admitted to the hospital.  This time her body becomes weaker than before.  She was sitting on her bed when I went to see her.  “Why didn't you hide your medicine?” I told her, she smiled and said she loves her grandchildren very much, I smiled and said, "We all love you lola."  The following days, her condition becomes worst.  In my silence, I prayed that she would be okay.  I told her to call on Jesus for I've learned that through calling His name it was already a prayer for Him.  On March 16, the doctor talked to my aunt and mom about grandma’s health condition; my aunt collapsed and my mother was admitted to the hospital that day when they found out that grandma has a 50-50 chances of recovery.    On the same day, my grandma was transferred to the ICU.

I'm just thankful with today's technology because through Skype we were able to call our relatives abroad and they would tell her to be strong and that they love her so much; she would just nod or raise her hands as her response.   We knew that she was already tired yet she keeps on holding to her promise that she would wait for her child Tita Baby, who was in Canada.

On March 18 when I received a text message from my cousin asking me if it was true that grandma was gone.  I immediately called my aunt who was in the hospital and she told me to go there, that time I knew there was something wrong.  My heart was beating slowly like the beat of the drum and tears were flowing from my eyes…

The death of my grandparents reminds me that everything on earth are temporary.  We were born here on earth, we struggle to survive everyday and we all shall die in the end.  The question is who's next in line...just kidding, the real question is do we live or die in eternity? We should always keep in mind that what will happen to our spirit when we die is what matters most, so before our life on earth ends we should repent from our sins and received Christ Jesus as our savior.

Today, though we are still grieving over our loss I still have the strength to smile and be thankful to our Father Almighty for everything.   It is because He provided us with people to comfort us when our hearts are in sorrow. He touched our hearts and gave us strength to openly accept everything that occur to us over the past three months.  How great is our Father Almighty!

Before I end, let me leave you with a certain Bible verse that I have enjoyed while writing this post.

 2 Corinthians 4: 17-18.

Our suffering is light and temporary and is producing for us an eternal glory that is greater than anything we can imagine. We don’t look for things that can be seen but for things that can’t be seen. Things that can be seen are only temporary. But things that can’t be seen last forever.