Treasures

It's raining tonight, not a soft, soothing rain, but the kind of rain that soaks you to the skin in 3 seconds. Luckily, I am indoors listening to thunder rattle the windows and watching lightning crackle across the dark sky. And I am feeling a little melancholy this evening. I'm sure that it's because this weekend, it will be one year since one of the loves of my heart left this world.

My grandma was a very simple, yet complex woman. When she died at 93, she had witnessed the world change very quickly in the span of her lifetime. How I loved to talk with her, asking her about her experiences, trying to gather as much as I could of her life to store away as priceless treasures. I can still hear her voice as she describes the little school she attended and the books that she read for her lessons. As she tells me of her elopement with my grandfather, I see the twinkle of young romance in her blue eyes. I can almost hear the cries of her four sons as they were born at home with only female relatives as her nurse. The hardships that she endured, the progress that she made, the joys and sorrows that she encountered were all met with a calm acceptance. Even after her beloved husband of 55 years died, she refused to just mark time until she could join him. She was interested in everything and she was herself, interesting.

As I sit here with the rain now quietly falling outside my window, I wonder what my future granddaughter will one day say about me. Will she, as I when I think of my grandma, find herself smiling? Will she be inspired by my strength and warmed by my gentleness? Will she be amazed that I met hard times with grace and honor? Will she remember the times that she heard me praying for her by name? Will I be able to pass along the legacy that my grandmother gave to me?

Tonight, I am looking at my treasures and I am the richest woman that I know.