Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Because Mortal Coil was already taken.

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I know why I'm here. But why are you here? For some reason you've stumbled into the spiral. So now that we're here together let's spin a story shall we?

I'll begin with my grandmother. She passed away over a year ago. But, this isn't about grief. She came to visit me. Yes, I know that sounds crazy but I don't care. I was about to fall asleep when I felt this overwhelming feeling of joy, a dizzy feeling. It wasn't coming from me because I had just been fretting over the dishes I decided to leave in the sink for the night, feeling guilty and a bit sorry for myself thinking about how bone tired I was taking care of the five kids, dog, and grandpa who lived with us at the time.

Then I heard/felt a snicker, or not a snicker, more of a snort-gufaw. I knew it was my grandmother, the same way you know from the smell wafting through the house in the morning that someone is up and about cooking bacon and eggs and putting on the coffee.

"What are you doing?" I asked aloud. My husband was sleeping.

"Practicing," she replied.

She didn't die that day. I later found out from my mother she had slipped into a diabetic coma and Frank (her husband) gave her a priesthood blessing and brought her back.

My Grandma Betty had been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints all her life. One of the practices of the religion is a laying on of hands and anointing of consecrated oil for the healing of the sick.

Grandma Betty had been in a lot of pain, struggling with her health for quite some time. Before she died she told my mom she was tired of living and wanted to go on but,

"Every time I get ready to go, that dang Frank gives me a blessing and keeps me here."

When Frank was else-where, she passed away sitting up, reading a western, caught in the world of a Louis L'amour book.

I don't even know the title.

But I wonder what chapter, what line, what word it was that she crossed over with.


 

Grandma Betty

12 comments:

  1. Lovely. I'm so happy you are doing this. More, please.

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  2. Hey, what's your blog name so I can connect with it. Thanks for being my first follower. I think I joined this a while back because I saw that you had started one and just never got around to posting anything.

    So, here's the deal. I'll do more if you do more!!!

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  3. great stuff, I love the way she decided on her own time to exit and did it with flair. Sneaky girl!

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  4. Thanks Michele...I can't think of a better way to go myself, then with a good book.

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  5. My Dad made his choice, too. He said it was time to move on and he had work a-waitin'. He wanted to go put out a garden, to mow the yard, and his body had failed him at long last. It was, by his logic, time for a new round. Dad believed in reincarnation, and so do I. No spirit should be trapped in a failing body forever, after all, any more than a person should live in a house which time has made shaky. ;)

    I had to laugh, though. What better company than a good rousing Louis L'Amour book to go out with? I would have liked to talk to your Granny, I think! :D

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  6. Hi Rhonda,

    I just wanted to make it clear that she didn't do anything to quicken the death process other than avoid Frank for a couple of hours. LOL. In this case, I think grandma's body just wore out. As for what happens when you age and when you are suffering, I really couldn't judge a person one way or another. I don't think we're meant to suffer endlessly. My Aunt Jane (the one I told you about, the one who taught me to find morels.) She had brain cancer. It was a long, drawn out, painful death. If that were me, I'm not sure I could have done it. If I had been asked to help her over, I don't know what I would have said either way...seeing how she suffered so.

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  7. wonderful to see more of you here in blogsphereworld. my g-ma was reading Call of the Wild for the umpteenth time. When she passed away I happened to be on a peninsula on a lake revisiting the cabin she lived in when I was a kid. Actually I had to sneak onto the property, but I felt so "called" to do so at the time (and later found out that was when she died). anyways, good to read you.

    i'm at

    http://toomuchaugustnotenoughsnow.blogspot.com

    best
    sherry

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  8. Sherry,

    Thanks for sharing your experience.
    I'll put a link up to your blog. At least I think know how to do the "blogs I like" section. Still fighting with this links thing. Do you know a html book for dummies? The template I have won't automatically add the links when I cut and paste the https:// information, and I'm sure it's probably an easy fix, add a bracket or squiggly line, put a comma here or there but I've no idea what.

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  9. Never mind. I figured it out. I had doubled up on the https:// when I cut and pasted. The compooter wasn't being a stoopid head, it was me.

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  10. Thank you my dearest daughter,
    for sharing my mommy with me! That photo was the first time I've seen my mom's face so happy and full of glee in many a year.
    Love you, my Darlin'

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  11. Thanks mom. Check out the Tonemah video, I know you'll love it.

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  12. Your writing is lovely I am looking forward to reading some more!

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