Well, I figured I would update this thread. My grandmother passed away on December 30th. We had a "celebration of life" ceremony for her last night at her church. It was beautiful. The pastor spoke and then openend the floor to my grandmother's children to get up and speak. One of my uncle's wrote something beautiful, but knew he would be too choked up to read it so another uncle (related my marriage) read it for him. Then two of my aunts got up and spoke as well. My father and my other uncle were too much of a mess to say anything. Then, they opened the floor to the grandchildren. All 10 of the grandchildren and 2 of the great-grandchildren got up while my 18 year old cousin read something she wrote. She had asked us all some of our fondest memories and the whole church pretty much laughed through the whole thing...she's a riot...and it was great. Then my 19 year old cousin (a great-grandchild) read something he wrote and spoke a little for his mother (my cousin) because she knew she wouldn't be able to do it. They had such wonderful things to say. Again, he was funny and kept us laughing with the memories, but then at the end he spoke directly to my grandfather and said, "Papa, you have taught me what it means to love someone and I can't thank you enough for that. I just hope that someday I can be half the husband that were to Nana." There wasn't a dry eye in the entire church. My grandparents were married for 60 years and my grandfather has put all of his time and energy into taking care of my grandmother over the past few years. It's really something we all admire. Once we sat down, a few people were allowed to come up and speak. Friends and neighbors came up and had wonderful things to say about my grandparents. The theme of the night, the pastor said, was "Make a Difference" because it was obvious that that's what my Nana did. The church was FULL (hardly standing room) of lives that she touched. It was a very emotional night. My boyfriend said that he cried more last night than he did as his own grandmother's funeral. People just had such beautiful things to say. I'm sorry this is so long. After last night, I'm just so proud to be a part of my family.
Then we all sang Amazing Grace which he sang in her ear as she passed away. Everyone was very emotional, especially him, but it was just so beautiful.
