What are
some ways death can bring the living together?
This question is
especially hard for me, but I wanted to express my thoughts anyway. My
grandmother has been the pillar of our family for as long as I can remember.
She was the host of all our family gatherings, the mediator in disagreements, and
the doting grandma always ready with chocolate chip waffles and fudge sickles. She
was diagnosed with cancer about two years ago. As she has been sick, entered remission, and
gotten sick again, our family has had to put away some long standing issues to
gather for her sake. Some joke that their family is “dysfunctional”, but I’m
not sure I can even convey fairly the kind of struggles we have been through
(or are still in the middle of). While her diagnosis of 1-6 months to live has
not erased any of the issues in our family, we have all tried our very best to
let these issues take the back burner and enjoy our time together for her. I
can say that this last Thanksgiving, which will be our last with her, was
absolutely perfect. I can’t remember another holiday (except for being a child)
that I enjoyed so much. It sounds backwards even to me that this holiday would
be enjoyable with her being so ill, but it was so nice to see everyone getting
along and my grandmother so happy.