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.