Her Last Day.....

If someone told you that today would be your last day on this Earth, what would you do? Would you shrink down in fear or would you make an effort to see all the people you loved most, eat your favorite foods, travel to a foreign land, sleep in?

The possibilities are endless of things I would want to do, but unfortunately we never know when that day will come....

This past Saturday, my aunt and grandmother travelled down to Houston for the weekend. My grandmother wanted to stay in the city for the week and celebrate her birthday with us on June 1st before going back home to Louisiana. 

Saturday was just like any typical day....

We all gathered at my moms house per usual, and laughed & talked like we always do when we have family in town. My grandmother asked me if she looked ok, and I told her of course, and said she looked pretty. She asked, "Do I girl?" and I said "Yes girl!" She showed me her nails, which she had just got done, and said that she was hungry. My mother fixed her a plate, and when she finished she said that she was tired and wanted to lay down in the bed next to me. She soon fell asleep, and I left her so that she could rest quietly. 

As the evening progressed, another storm blew through Houston. Thunder boomed loudly outside, and eventually all the lights in the neighborhood went out. 

The sound of the thunder (and us laughing) was so loud that it woke my grandmother up from her nap and she walked to the front of the house to join us.

The storm raged on, and the darkness lingered. I went to lay down until the lights came back, and fell asleep to the sound of my family laughing, putting together puzzles & reminscing on the past. I didn't get up to join in, but found comfort in the sounds. 

By the time the lights came back on, it was late in the afternoon. My grandmother had brought gifts for my sister and I as she had started doing on all of her visits. She whispered in my ear not to argue over the items with my sister & I told her that I wouldn't because that's not how I roll. She laughed and went on about getting her things together to go over to my aunts for bed. I can't remember if I hugged her one last time before she left, but I do remember her making sure that we got everything she had brought for us out of the car before she left. 

Sunday, May 31, 2015, on the eve of her 85th birthday, my grandmother left this Earth and went home to be with the Lord. She had passed away peacefully in her sleep, and did not make it to see her birthday the next day. 

We were shocked, filled with grief, confusion and misunderstanding but it was nothing we could do because she was already gone. 

We all have been taking it hard, but in a sense I feel as if I would be taking it even harder if I was not fortunate enough to have spent her last day on this Earth with her. She was determined to get to Houston, to rest and enjoy her time with us before she had to go home....and she did. 

Had I known it would have been the last day I would see her alive, I would not have let her go. But that's not the way life is set up. I've tried not to think of too many what-ifs or what could've been done to prevent this from happening but I have given up. I know everything happened just like it was supposed to, where it was supposed to and when it was supposed to. I'm happy I was apart of the final pages of her story. I'm grateful for that last conversation, those last interactions and the final goodbye. 

It hurts, but I know we will heal. Her legacy will continue and I will always love her.

I just wish I had of known it was going to be her last day.