finding strength
As children & grandchildren, we personally have experienced many variations of how our parents and grandparents have grown old. I’m sure you have a similar list.
Grandparents who died before we knew them.
Grandparents who had an influence on us when we were kids, but then passed away.
Living in the same household with a grandparent in their nineties.
A parent who passed away in their prime.
Parents working through a later in life transition to a retirement community.
And the one we have found the hardest, walking with a parent experiencing a debilitating disease.
This is a sad story and there is no easy way to tell it.
Bud And Mary On The Farm
Mary is my mother-in-law. Her grandmother lived until she was 99, her mother until 97. Knowing those women were vibrant well into their nineties, we thought we had several years with my mother-in-law. We were wrong. Time was not on our side.
Mary started declining several years ago. The stories she used to share with us were silenced when she grew unable to verbally communicate. We watched her suffer and we watched her great strength through all of it. One of her earmarked scripture verses was Psalm 73:26 & 28 NIV.
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.”
Now there are so many stories that are lost because we failed to record them and so much family history we’ll never know.
Before her decline, Mary had always been a particular woman with a set of rules and expectations for those around her. It’s one of the things that made her a great Kindergarten teacher. Like many teachers, her students didn’t just learn academics, but they learned character and life lessons. They are different today because she taught them what it looks like to be respectful and kind.
Gibby was one of Mary’s students. And although the stories I’ve heard tell me he was quite a handful, he’s also the same man that walked us through Mary’s recent burial and helped us honor her last wishes. He was both respectful and kind. At Parthemore Funeral Home & Cremation Services, he is following his own family’s tradition. His father and grandfather showed this same respect and kindness to Mary when she lost her husband, Bud, twenty years ago.
Our short time with Bryce’s parents is just one of the many reasons we want to help you save your family history before it’s too late. I don’t want your children and grandchildren to lose their family stories. We did and it’s hard. I want your children to have a visual reminder of their history and find security in their family identity, don’t you?
Searching for wisdom and asking for grace,
Jody