And So It Goes...

"Angels will be singing! Joybells will be ringing! They'll all welcome me when I get Home!

So I got the news about 8p this evening that Aunt Grat had died. I was in shock because she had revived sort of and was singing and ready to leave the hospital and go home. I called the hospital to speak w/her because I was so happy she was doing better.

The nurse's station passed the phone to my aunt Minnie who, after hearing it was me, began crying. This scared me and you know those two side belly muscles that tense up when you're getting ready to be punched? Well, those muscles contracted which told my brain to prepare for some bad news.

Minnie told me about Grat leaving and I just sat there stunned. I mean here I am at work, surronded by others and I've just been told my favourite (one of them) aunt has died. I rang off from Minnie and just went back to what I was doing but then decided, "forget this, I'm calling Momma."

Well, I wasn't going to tell Momma that Grat had died so I did the next best thing. I called my sister and told her about Grat's death and instructed her to tell Mom. You see, I learned a long time ago that when you're the first person to give bad news, you have to be prepared for the reaction. I used to love to be the first to tell bad news, just to relish in the fact that people would be saying Debo told me, or Debo told so and so. What power!

Then one day I told someone some horrible news and that person almost fainted on me. That scared me so badly I decided then and there that I'd never do that again. I mean, if there were two of us stranded on a desert island and I knew something bad was about to happen, I'd put the message in a bottle, write it on sand, paint a picture and leave it for the other person to find before I'd tell it. I don't need another experience like that.

So my sister told my mom and I'm home now. We've looked up flights and are discussing who's going when and with whom. It seems we'll all be together for Christmas, something not done in thirty years.

Grat always liked family gatherings and was usually the one setting up reunions and vacations. This is just like her, to bring us all together at Christmas time to sit around laughing about her antics, her sage teachings and her love for us all. We'll pray for our cousins Dee Dee, Vonda and Al for having lost both parents, while secretly thanking God our mothers are still here.

We won't spend too much time grieving for Grat because we know where's she's gone. She told us where she was going a long time ago, when we were running around her knees and falling asleep in her lap. Blessed are they that die in the Lord for theirs is eternal rest.