Sunday, June 27, 2010

This is Why we Sing

I haven't written about this yet, but for the past week or so my sweet grandma has been in the hospital. You can read more about my grandma and her ways in this blog post, one of many that my sister has written on her fabulous blog.

I have this picture that I snapped of my kids on Halloween, with grandma the willing participant, in her Santa style Yankees hat (she is a die hard, completely hard core, fanatic for the Yankees).
Her eyes, which once spent countless hours stitching quilts or painting ceramics she would most likely give to others, are now pretty much gone. We had a lot of explaining to do as she tried to understand the boys costumes, but she had plenty of goodies to hand out none the less.

My brother wondered if anyone would want to go visit her in her hospital- our sister Julie had been on overtime there and had to return to her out of town home, so we worried she might be lonely and needing a Sunday boost. We sent out a late night text, and to my amazement one by one my busy siblings showed up, hymn books in hand, ready to sing.

We had compiled a list of our favorites, but grandma had her own requests. As we sang them, one after the other, her eyes slipped closed..... her lips mouthed the words, and sometimes her head would fall to the side as her emotions just over took her and she sobbed.

"How Great Thou Art" was nothing short of a miracle, for we somehow made it through it, yet we were all crying as she shook and gripped her hospital sheets, trying to sing along, her face wrenched tight in determination.

She insisted we had the voices of angels, and she said she had no idea we could sing that way. We ended with"America the Beautiful" and I could feel Grandpa, who passed away over 11 years ago, smiling on our patriotic selection.

After we finished she decided out loud, "I am the envy of all the hospital!" but she quickly scolded herself for saying such a prideful thing out loud.

She turned to us with her blurry, unfocused eyes, and said, "I don't know how much longer I'll live, but that was so great, I won't forget it for the rest of my life." Then she blew a kiss across the room.

I love you, Grandma.

9 comments:

KuernoDeChivo said...

Thanks for writing an account of today's events with Grandma. For some reason I found it hard to put into words what had transpired. Instead I was able to simply redirect readers of my own blog over here.

Thanks

Carrieann said...

Your Grandma is beautiful...inside and out, it seems. What a lovely post!

Mosaic Magpie said...

Tears in my eyes and thinking how blessed you all were. Something you too will remember the rest of your life.
Debbie

Monica said...

Your post made me cry. Towards the end of my grandma's life we spent a lot of time around her bed, talking, some singing, and reminiscing. Your post made me remember the good and the hard times.

Monica said...

Your post made me cry. Towards the end of my grandma's life we spent a lot of time around her bed, talking, some singing, and reminiscing. Your post made me remember the good and the hard times.

Unknown said...

So sweet! How Great Thou Art is my VERY favorite hymn. I bet it sounded amazing :)

Lynnae said...

Thanks for posting this. I miss you all and wish I could be there to see Grandma. I'm glad you could make her evening a little nicer when she was so uncomfortable.
Love, Lynnae

See Mom Smile said...

Okay I am in love with Grandma. My grandma was a huge Utah Jazz fan. I can still hear her watching the games! Love the hymn singing. She was smokin hot.

Jeanna GT said...

tender. thanks for this. my grandparents have played a huge role in my life and i think we need to appreciate them more and show them we care.
this is beautiful.