A Beautiful Angel

Grandma and I were just about as close as a grandmother and granddaughter could be. I spent long hours at her house as a child while my parents worked - before and after school, all day during the summer, sometimes evenings and nights as well. She was so loving and patient...okay, I was her favorite grandkid, and that might have influenced things a little. As I grew, I appreciated Grandma more and more. She became my friend and was a trusted confidante to my teenaged self. No holds were barred with the advice that she gave - she told things like they were, and her suggestions were always solid. She decided who I should marry and threw (literally threw) my phone number at him while at church one Sunday morning. (She was spot on about that one too, although sometimes my mental "thanks a lot, Grandma" leans toward the sarcastic.) My first child is named after her. She was a beautiful person, inside and out, and I was blessed to have her for 22 years.

I remember so vividly the morning that she passed away. It was a sunny November morning - the nursing home where she had lived for two months had transferred her to the hospital the day before, but neglected to notify our family. I had no idea she was sick. And she was gone.

As that day passed, then the next and the next, it seemed so strange to me that life around me seemed to go on as usual. The sun still rose and set, traffic still moved along the streets, people still talked and laughed. Didn't they know that nothing was okay any more? Why was everything else still so normal?

That's exactly how I felt again today, after learning that baby Penelope had passed away.

Only one month old. Their only child. Such a beautiful baby girl. So unfair.

But it was a pretty, sunny day...everything else seemed normal. Didn't they know how many hearts were broken today?

It's surreal that she's gone. In just 32 short days, Penelope touched so many lives.

Please continue to be in prayer for her family...especially for her parents, Samantha and DJ, her aunt Ashley, her grandparents. She will be so missed.