Precious in the sight of the Lord are the death of His saints...
He must be doing some rejoicing right about now as Nell has joined Him.
She'd been ready to go for a year, maybe even twenty as that's when she lost the love of her life, Floyd, but she soldiered for over two more decades, welcoming new generations and devoting her life in service to the Lord.
She was beautiful, inside and out, and I was honored to call her Grandma.
I just got back from her funeral in Kansas, a long trip I never imagined not taking.
Of course I would be there.
Just as she'd been there for me my entire life.
Not a birthday went by without a card and a check from my Mema. Graduations. Christmases. New babies. She honored each and every milestone for every child, grandchild, and great-grandchild in the family.
As the years went by the notes on the cards got shorter but they never stopped coming.
Not even this last year when she was diagnosed with cancer.
They gave her just a few weeks.
We prepared to lose her right away.
We expected the pain to be devastating.
But she rallied right on, crediting her prayer warrior friends with her pain-free days.
And her numbered days were multiplied.
She lived another year, ten months past doctors' estimations.
Her three boys, separated only by geography, were able to care for her in her own home the entire year.
I can only imagine the joy she must have felt having all of her kids back home.
I think I've been with all four of my kids at once just twice in the last five years so I know what a blessing that is.
Her death brought even more of us together. All of the aunts and uncles, my sister and her family, my three cousins and their families, and my girls were all there to celebrate the life of a wonderful matriarch who not only loved us but loved the Lord.
Her service was beautiful and was a testimony to the life she lived.
I pray that one day we will all be together again in Heaven, eating her spaghetti and meatballs and playing a game of Back Alley.
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