Sunday with Granny

My friend, Leslie, called me this morning and invited me to attend church with her at MCC of Winston-Salem, since it was Pastor Mark's last Sunday with us before moving to New Jersey to live with his partner. I'd attended the evening service at ths church, but never the morning service and I was in for a treat! The church was alive with the Spirit! Gospel music filled the church through the sound system and folks were milling about, chatting and hugging and breaking into an occasional dance or hand-clapping fit. This is what I so enjoyed about my days at the now-defunct Saint Mary's MCC in Greensboro -- the family atmosphere and sheer exhuberance!

Shirley, a hip, grand-motherly sort who'd greeted me on my previous visits came right over to hug me and we exchanged a few greetings. I asked her to introduce me to two other congregants (whom I'll call Jane and Belinda) whom I knew regularly attended the morning service. She ushered me right over and introduced me. I explained to Jane and Belinda that I lived in the house that they used to own and that they vacated about five years ago. They were ecstatic! "Oh, we miss that house so!" "We had to stop driving by because the womon to whom we sold it just let it go." "I love that house; my heart is in it!" Hearing this and putting two and two together, Shirley interjected that she lives in an apartment just around the corner from me. I promised to have Jane and Belinda to dinner one evening and extended to Shirley an open invitation to drop by.

Leslie and I sat just behind Jane and Belinda and we exchanged friendly remarks throughout the service, which was very emotional. At open prayer time, many offered praises for success on the job, relationship happiness, and financial break-throughs. One womon gave thanks for having lost over 100 pounds in the past year! Still others shared the heartache of lost employment and loved ones who are lost or ill. I was one who had heartache to share, involving my paternal grandmother's failing health and my plans to visit her this afternoon. Several folks, including Pastor Mark, mentioned that their thoughts would go with me and my family.

My paternal grandmother, Granny, has been in failing health for the past several years, but things have really slid downhill this year. A tumor is growing in her chest and pressing on her trachea such that it will eventually suffocate her. Surgery, chemotheraphy, and radiotherapy are impractical options in a womon of 95 years. I shared this with the congregation and added that I was going to visit Granny this afternoon to take advantage of the few fleeting opportunities that remain for me to do so.

When informed of her situation and asked how she wanted to make use of the time that she had remaining, Granny replied that God had answered all of her prayers and that she had gotten out of life all that she could want; she just wanted to spend time with and enjoy her sizable family (4 children and their significant others; 6 grandchildren; 4 great-grandchildren; a smattering of siblings and in-laws; and the proverbial host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and extended family; as well as her church family).

Granny has had to move from her assisted-living facility into an acute-care nusring home and the lack of oxygen in her system quite often leaves her confused and foggy. She might not remember when anyone last visited her, but she recognizes every face that enters her room! And you'd better believe that she'll have a sassy remark for you! Granny actually looked quite good and was in good spirits, despite the rough week that she'd had, having had to use an oxygen mask for several days.

I thank God for all of my family and friends and treasure each one of them as a pearl on a fine string of them. Each is unique and, by nature, imperfect. They certainly have their rough spots, but that's what makes them genuine and, indeed, precious. :J

Granny celebrates her 95th birthday in February 2006 with some of her grandchildren: Lori, Billy, Justin (moi), and Jenny.

Granny celebrates her 94th birthday in February 2005 with her oldest daughter, my aunt Anne, and Anne's husband; their children, Lori and Billy, and their spouses; and three of her four great-grandchildren.