Twice Adopted

In October 2012, my amazing grandmother passed away. My brother and I were the only grandchildren, so I think our bond was pretty special. Maybe everyone has that bond with their grand parents? I don't know...but I think my grandmother was pretty awesome.

I've always loved her...but the day she laid eyes on my son...oh, that love grew and grew even stronger. See, the bond she and I had? Nothing compared to the bond that she and my son had. They connected...in a big way. Hulk was 3 1/2 months old when he came home. And she loved him from the first moment she saw him...and he loved her too.

Meeting for the first time

I will never know what made that instant connection, but if she was in the room, he wanted to be near her. He would crawl across restaurant tables to see her and she would sit at the table and play with play-do with him for hours.

Always a big hug for Nanny

She wasn't a young great grandmother...she was in her 90s when she passed away. So it wasn't like she was out playing ball or riding bikes with him. But he wanted to be near her. He wanted to help her. He wanted to talk to her and hug her and simply love her.  During the last couple years, she lived at a nursing home. My son LOVED visiting with her. He would sit by her and share his newest action figure and tell her all about his days at school. He would draw pictures for her. Share secrets and watch baseball on tv. They were connected.

Nanny with her 4 Great Grand Children....she loved them so much!

And then she got sick. Very sick.

She was admitted to the hospital and stayed for a very long time. Hulk longed to see her and often he wasn't allowed. Either because of her stay in ICU (no kids) or because I simply didn't want the memory of her 'bad days' to be his last memories.

And then...she suddenly got better. She was eating again and wanting to sit up and talking to us. And Hulk and Bug got to visit again. I am so thankful for that day.

For it was that day that they heard her say 'I love you SO much' once again.
They were able to visit a few more times, but....

In the hospital...this day was super special.

She was gone soon after.

And my tears still flow.
And Hulk's tears still flow.

I miss her so much.

Her death brought on a lot of questions from Hulk. Big questions about life and death. Heaven and Hell. For months, I have been answering questions.

And tonight, after a long long discussion with Hulk, makes me miss Nanny even more. Because I want to call her and tell her what an amazing impact she had on my son. I want to tell her thank you for being the example that she was to him. I want to tell her thank you for loving him unconditionally. I want to tell her thank you for that immediate bond that they had.

I want to pick up the phone and call her and tell her what happened tonight.

She impacted my son's life so much in the 7 years they had together...and yet it may have been her death that impacted him most.

Tonight, my son asked Christ to live in his heart. He said he wanted to live forever in Heaven and live his life on earth for Jesus. He said he wanted to tell everyone about Jesus and that he wanted Him to be in his heart. We talked for a long time. I answered a ton of questions. And he talked a LOT of Nanny.

Tonight I held my son's hand as he asked Christ to save him. I am overwhelmed. He has a heart of gold and tonight he went to bed a Christian. He will change the world...no doubt.

Tonight I am going to bed overwhelmed by so much going on in life right now. But my heart is full and I am so thankful for so much.

I am thankful for a great family that has 'walked the walk' and been an example for my kids. My parents and my in laws are awesome...couldn't ask for better examples for my kids. I'm thankful for my Nanny and the relationship that they had because I truly believe that it was that relationship...that bond, that prompted so many questions when she passed away. I'm thankful for his VBS teachers who shared this gospel with him this week.

And I'm thankful that my son is now adopted into the family of Christ. He was adopted 8 years ago into our family. He has now been twice adopted. 

Loving VBS!