Grandma Joann left this earth on Thanksgiving afternoon, November 28th, 2013. The event of her death has also marked a chapter in our boys' lives, especially Blane's.
You see, he and Nana found her, just a few hours after she hugged him. Likely, he was the last person on earth that she touched and spoke to.
She had been breathing heavily on the phone with Susie that morning. Scott, Jay and Blane went to check on her. She complained of a stomachache, but no signs pointed to any immediate danger. Her pulse was normal. They went for some Pepto Bismol to settle her, then said goodbye.
Susie called at four that afternoon. No answer, but she was likely at the 4 o'clock dinner seating. It would not be unusual for her to forget that she had a feast to go to that night. A little while later, no answer again. Susie and Greg took Blane and left to pick her up for dinner.
Susie said that she and Blane went into the apartment, before Greg came upstairs. Blane saw Grandma a split second before Susie, but gratefully, Susie knew immediately what had happened, and directed him out of sight of the body. Grandma was lying gently on the floor, peacefully. The apple juice she had been drinking was still on the table, unspilled. Her glasses were not askew...she had likely sunk down slowly to the floor or lain down of her own accord.
Blane was out in the hallway for quite a while while the building security, police and EMTs filed in and out. Scott and Jay arrived, and ultimately came home for us. Thanksgiving dinner at the Zanders was going to go on, but would be hosted by the Zanders's children instead.
C.S. Lewis writes in the The Screwtape Letters that nothing is so much like eternity as the Present and God desires that we dwell there to the exclusion of the Past or Future. "He [God] would therefore have them [humans] continually concerned either with eternity (which means being concerned with him) or with the Present--either meditating on their eternal union with, or separation from, Himself, or else obeying the present voice of conscience, bearing the present cross, receiving the present grace, giving thanks for the present pleasure." Yesterday cemented for all of us the importance of joy in the Now. The gathering of our family was a joy. We are here for today, perhaps not for tomorrow, but we can revel in these moments.
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