Monday, January 05, 2015

{Our time in Michigan} ~ Back home some mid-way reflections

I always love being home,
stepping back into traditions and ways that
my family still has.
*
I am still home at my parent's house right now,
I will DV publish this post later,
when I am back in NJ.
*
I won't be able to be with my Mom, her sister
and my cousins for their Wednesday lunches because of how
it falls this year, so we may get together on my birthday,
something I had thought at first that I would just be doing with my Mom.
*
It makes me realize again how 
hard it is for me to not have those things the 'same' when I return,
how everyone is getting older and how someday
nothing will be 'the same' and how hard that is.
*
My Aunt had a wonderful 80th birthday.
20 phone calls and a nice restaurant meal the next day.
Everyone is getting older...
*
I heard stories from my Grandma that even my Dad did not know
this past visit, things that come out that were just 
not talked about before;
not bad things as in scandal but more just the unexpected tragedies
and how they happened,
like my Grandpa's Mother fainting one day while my Dad was a baby
and she had my Dad on her lap...my Grandma had to quick grab him...
back then, in the early 1950s there were
no emergency calls or 911 and by the time the doctor came,
there was nothing to be done.
It was called a blood clot, what we would call a brain aneurysm today, and
at 53 years old my Dad's Grandmother was gone so suddenly.
My Grandpa and Grandma were at my Grandpa's parent's home,
practicing singing a song, a cousin named D. at the piano and my Grandpa singing
(he sang in churches for years and had a really good voice)
my Grandma quoted these two lines of the song from memory:
Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?
Your heart does the Spirit control?
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And as all this was going on,
with my Dad and Uncle being little kids of age 2 and 1 or so,
my Grandpa's Mother just fainted and never woke up.
*
Such a shock, my Grandma's sister my Great Aunt P. took
my Dad and his brother to care for and their Aunt N. came over to help,
as my Aunt P had kids of her own too,
so that my Grandpa and Grandma could be at the funeral home.
*
I find that I am always wanting these stories;
what happened and why or at least how;
and more over how did my Grandma and Grandpa's family live,
did they have kids and how many, what did they do;
I knew since I was a kid that my Grandma's father and Grandfather
loved God and His Word and as Protestants were looked to for 
advice/wisdom because of their knowledge of God's Word.
It was my Grandma's stories of them when I was a kid that made my
heart aflame for God's Word and to love God.
It is still her stories of how my family lived as Christians
that teaches me now
and that I am still looking to learn from.
*
Thought I would post the song that my Grandpa was 
preparing to sing when he lost his Mother so unexpectedly.
*
Is Your All on the Altar?

You have longed for sweet peace,
And for faith to increase,
And have earnestly, fervently prayed;
But you cannot have rest,
Or be perfectly blest,
Until all on the altar is laid.
Refrain:
Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?
Your heart does the Spirit control?
You can only be blest,
And have peace and sweet rest,
As you yield Him your body and soul.
Would you walk with the Lord,
In the light of His word,
And have peace and contentment alway?
You must do His sweet will,
To be free from all ill,
On the altar your all you must lay.
Oh, we never can know
What the Lord will bestow
Of the blessings for which we have prayed,
Till our body and soul
He doth fully control,
And our all on the altar is laid.
Who can tell all the love
He will send from above,
And how happy our hearts will be made;
Of the fellowship sweet
We shall share at His feet,
When our all on the altar is laid.

5 comments:

Paula said...

I know what you mean. My Grandma will be 85 in July. These last few visits she's really starting to look/act 'old'. She was only 41 when I was born, so she's always been so vibrant. It's hard to see her now.

elizabeth said...

Paula, yes that can be hard. (hugs)... we have some baked goods from my Grandma that I am so excited to eat for Christmas (two days now!)... I appreciate your words and share of empathy!

Lisa said...

That is truth. Not easy, though.

Rosemary said...

What a sad and yet beautiful story. I know what you mean, I have the same hunger for stories from my family, particularly my mom's family where they have been preserved. I want to begin writing them down soon because my mom knows them so well, but I cannot seem to hold them the same way in my mind. Perhaps because she grew up next door to her grandmother and cousins and I grew up two states away.

Elizabeth @ The Garden Window said...

I too know what you mean. I am so glad you have had a blessed time with your dear family!