Going Home

When I was younger, I always marveled at the people who made it past a hundred years of age, and for my entire life I always thought of one person who I personally wanted to make it to 100-years-old--my great-grandmother on my Dad's side.

My great-grandma's name is Nellie, but for my entire life I have called her Grandma Chili. We all called her Chili because when she was younger, her brother couldn't say Nellie, and instead said Chili. She has always been my coffee drinking grandma, and I always wondered about that because my family never drank coffee.

You see, I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but for most of her life my Grandma Chili was not. She finally was baptized and went through the Temple at age 85. As LDS members, we believe that the Temple is God's House on the Earth, and it is a very special thing to go through.

Now my great-grandmother is 98-years-old, and her 99th birthday is on May 15th. She was born almost 100 years ago in 1915 right around the break-out of the First World War. My Grandma Chili has lived through both World Wars, the Great Depression, and every historical event since then. She remembers going around in a horse-and-buggy when she was little. She is extremely independent and sassy. I call her my Little Sassy Grandma because she is honestly four-foot-nothing.

Last Tuesday night I got a text from my mother saying that my grandmother was admitted to the hospital because of internal bleeding. In the hospital, my grandmother refused all medical treatment because "it was time to go home."

I don't want my grandmother to leave because I will miss her, but she has led a long life. Her husband died in back in 1964, and she has lasted so many years without her love. She is tired, and I have come to accept the fact that she wants to go home.

I'm really thankful for the beliefs that I have, and the knowledge that there is a life after this one, and that I will see my Grandma Chili again. I will be sad, and I will miss her, but she is going to a happier place. A place of peace and rest.

I will Love you for Forever and All Eternity Grandma. <3

-JoLynne