A Rose like no other

My grandmother has always held a special place in my heart. Of all the people I have ever known, she is the one I always wanted to make proud and the one I always knew would love me know matter what. On Thursday, 12/6/12, while I held her hand, she took her last breath. Today we buried her and the following is the text of the eulogy that I wrote for her:

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth,
before the silver cord is snapped,
and the dust returns to the earth as it was,
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

For almost 93 years this wonderful Rose was in bloom. She had a way of making us all stay young and she taught all of us about life and love. She was truly an angel among us.

We are all here for only a certain time. These bodies are mere vessels and how we fill them is for us to decide. Grandma’s vessel was overflowing with love and whether she was scooping ice cream or fitting you for glasses, it always seemed like something special just because it was her. She was a master at making you feel at ease, would hug you like you were the only person who mattered, and had a smile that would light up a room. Surely when the last petal fell and this Rose had withered, a piece of all of our hearts suddenly went missing.

While we will all miss her and mourn her passing. We should also be thankful that we had her and that she had a long and wonderful life. Just as there will never be enough tears, our memories of her will last until our own time comes. It is with that truth that she will continue to live beyond the grave within our hearts.

Our time on earth is but for a season and to every season a purpose under heaven. Inasmuch as it has pleased Almighty God to take the spirit of our beautiful Rose, we humbly commit her earthly temple to whence it came and send off her spirit to eternal bliss.

Let us pray:

Father of Light.
Creator of all things.
We thank you for blessing us with this beautiful soul.
May the present instance of mortality remind us of our own approaching fate
and enable us to walk through that narrow gate on the path to Light.
So that we may join you in that celestial temple.
That house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Amen.

SMIB