With my grandchildren’s great-grandmother passing away this past week, I am concerned about how they will react as time goes on. They attended the viewing and the burial ceremony. Kaitlin, the oldest of the two great-granddaughters placed drawings into the coffin from the two of them for Mom-Mom to take with her to Heaven. The person she saw did not look like her Mom-Mom that she remembered for she had lost too much weight. Perhaps that was a blessing. The casket was then closed before friends and relatives arrived to pay their respect.

I’ve searched for books to help us help Kaitlin and Emily with the questions that may be asked when the realization that they won’t see their great-grandmother again sets in. Here are some that I have found online:

	When Someone Very Special Dies: Children Can Learn to Cope with Grief A practical format for allowing children to understand the concept of death and develop coping skills for life.
	I Miss You: A First Look At Death When a close friend or family member dies, it can be difficult for children to express their feelings. This book helps boys and girls understand that death is a natural complement to life, and that grief and a sense of loss are normal feelings for them to have following a loved one’s death.
	Help Me Say Goodbye: Activities for Helping Kids Cope When a Special Person Dies An art therapy and activity book for children coping with death. Sensitive exercises address all the questions children may have during this emotional and troubling crisis.
	Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs Originally published in 1973, this autobiographical picture book was one of the first to introduce very young children to the concept of death.
	Healing Your Grieving Heart for Teens: 100 Practical Ideas (100 Ideas Series) Each page presents a different idea designed to help teens recognize mourning as a natural process connected with loss, reassuring them that they should not be afraid of deep, sometimes uncontrollable emotions, and showing them how to release grief in healthy, positive ways.

Since grief is a very personal emotion, so may be your choice of self-help books. Search Amazon.com further for more selections on grieving. 

For the past 15 or more years, I have been tracing our family trees. After we became grandparents, I became even more determined to gather as much family history as I could so I could pass it on to our grandchildren. Now, with the passing of their great-grandmother, I’m so very glad I did.

As a young grandaughter, myself, it never occurred to me to ask my grandmother about her life beyond what she offered. I never knew her parents had together almost 24 siblings and now it is almost impossible to trace their descendants.

It has been an exciting trip through time and history. To find an ancestor long forgotten and place him or her within an historical time period brings so much more meaning to the past. My family tree discoveries had even helped our children connect to what they had been learning in their social studies classes.

With most of my blood relatives deceased, except for one second cousin, I have had to rely mostly on Internet sources. Each time I thought I had come up against a “brick wall”, I would take time off from my search…until the next summer when I was on vacation. Then I would pick up where I left off and to my surprise I would find another clue or fact or document leading me further into the past. (more…)

Our Mom-Mom’s viewing was tonight. Many friends and family members attended to support our family. We are very appreciative of the kindness shown by everyone at our time of great loss.

Here is a poem that is beautiful and inspirational. It is one of the most popular bereavement poems read at funerals to comfort those who mourn the loss of a loved one. May it bring comfort to you at your time of loss.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.

I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow,

I am the diamond glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain,

I am the gentle autumn’s rain.

When you awaken in the morning’s hush,

I am the swift uplifting rush

of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,

I am not there, I did not die…

~ Author Unknown ~

Do not stand at my grave Keepsake Box

Our children’s grandmother, my husband’s mother, passed away on August 5, 2008. She died at home, under the care of Hospice, with her four children at her side. Our Mom-Mom will be greatly missed but it was her time to go, her guardian angel was waiting for her.

This poem is dedicated to Mom-Mom…

God’s Garden

God looked around His garden
And found an empty place
He then looked down upon the earth
And saw your tired face

He put His arms around you
And lifted you to rest
God’s garden must be beautiful,
He always takes the best

He knew that you were suffering
He knew you were in pain,
He knew that you would never
Get well on earth again.

He saw the road was getting rough
And the hills were hard to climb
So He closed your weary eyelids,
And whispered “Peace Be Thine.”

It breaks our hearts to lose you
But you didn’t go alone.
For part of us went with you,
The day God called you home.

~ Author Unknown ~

Celebrate your aging mother’s or grandmother’s birthday with this beautiful, gentle prayer, A Prayer for a Mother’s Birthday by Henry Van Dyke, in appreciation of her caring for her children and grandchildren.

Lord Jesus, Thou hast known
A mother’s love and tender care:
And Thou wilt hear, while for my own
Mother most dear I make this birthday prayer.

Protect her life, I pray,
Who gave the gift of life to me;
And may she know, from day to day,
The deepening glow of Life that comes from Thee.

As once upon her breast
Fearless and well content I lay,
So let her heart, on Thee at rest,
Feel fears depart and troubles fade away.

Her every wish fulfill;
And even if Thou must refuse
In anything, let Thy wise will
A comfort bring such as kind mothers use.

Ah, hold her by the hand,
As once her hand held mine;
And though she may not understand
Life’s winding way, lead her in peace divine.

I cannot pay my debt
For all the love that she has given;
But Thou, love’s Lord, wilt not forget
Her due reward,–bless her in earth and heaven.

by Henry Van Dyke

Kaitlin, our oldest of our two grandchildren, turned 7 this past week…the time has gone so fast. Poppy made her a card and in it he listed all the things she learned to do this past year. Even she was amazed!

On Saturday, Kaitlin had a dozen girls over for a Hannah Montana pool and pizza party with all the decorations that went with the theme.

From her friends, she received the following Hannah Montana gifts:

• Hannah Montana backpack and lunch box
• Hannah Montana pajamas
• Hannah Montana sheet set
• Hannah Montana fleece blanket
• Hannah Montana school supplies
• Hannah Montana clock
• Hannah Montana sparkle kit
• Hannah Montana pocketbook
• Hannah Montana singing doll

Following her party with her friends, after a couple of hours’ break, she celebrated her birthday with family from whom she was given the following Hannah Montana gifts: (more…)