Far Better

After driving a little over 10 hours, I am finally relaxing in the hotel room I will call "home" for the next 2 nights. I unpacked my devotionals and sat down to read my assigned texts for the day. I opened my "Our Daily Bread" and noticed the title "Far Better", which included Revelation 21:1-4.

This particular writing and the included verses spoke to me. I suppose they did, because my Grandpap passed away Monday afternoon. I've wondered why I haven't been crying uncontrollably, and I think I know the answer now. Grandpap is in a much better place. He's home in Heaven with his Lord and Savior. He's been reunited with loved ones, including his beautiful bride. He's no longer in pain, and the Alzheimer's has dissipated. He's healthy, he's loved, he's happy!

Revelation 21:4 states, "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."

How true is that? For those of us left behind, we can find comfort in knowing that the man who was a husband, father, brother, uncle, cousin, and grandfather is pain free and whole once again. When you think of it that way, it's hard to wish he were still here.

I wish I had gotten to say goodbye, but the last few times I had talked to Grandpap on the phone, he had a hard time remembering who I was. My Mom and Dad were concerned about me seeing who he'd become; they didn't want me to remember him that way. Knowing Grandpap, he wouldn't have wanted me to see him that way either.

I'm blessed to have called him Grandpap and to have had him call me Granddaughter. He and my Grandma, who passed several years ago, accepted my brother and I as their own. It didn't matter that we didn't have the same blood flowing through our veins, we were their grandchildren.

Moreover, I'm left with a plethora of memories. After my family and I moved to NC, Grandpap would come to visit for a month or two at a time. He was there to see me off the night I attended my Junior prom. He was there to see me graduate from high school. My brother and I spent countless hours walking the golf course with him, looking for golf balls. I can hear him now "Merry K, look! There's a golf ball under that bush. Go get it!". Who cared if I had a thing about ticks, Grandpap wanted that golf ball!! Golf ball hunting was usually followed by an evening of me picking cactus stickers out of his fingers. Saturday evenings were spent watching the Statler Brothers, while I clipped and filed his toe nails. There are countless more, but those are the memories that I recall most often.

So, although I will miss Grandpap, I will celebrate his life and the fact that he is in Heaven with God. When I look at it that way, it's impossible not to be happy for him! I love you Grandpap. I pray that I don't disappoint you and I will see you again one day! RIP. Until next time, FROG!