Bloganuary: What Brings You Joy in Life?

The prompt for yesterday was this question:

“What brings you joy in life?”

Connection.

Connection to people and to God is what brings me joy the most consistently in life.

The fragility of working on positive connection.

The hope of setting up even more beautiful connections in the future.

The organic interactions I have with my children.

Connection with my spouse.

And the connection of history. I am currently remembering my friend who passed last year and also letting go of the matriarch of our family who will be passing soon.

I am so connected to my grandma. This next portion is all for you. ❤

The last time we spoke, Grandma, you weren’t able to recall me to mind. You knew I was here to visit and you knew I was a younger person. Your mind struggled and came up so very short.

I loved you through it all, though, because I know the woman behind all of the forgetting. And I listened lovingly, with fascination as you shared high school memories with me as if they were today.

This connection to you, it brings me so much joy. And sadness, as I prepare to let you go from this life.

One of the greatest connections we had, Grandma, was our faith. The expressions of our practices looked different but there was this sacred magic of two hearts sharing bright, bright light. And tenderness.

I remember you, being a force to be reckoned with, showing me how to be a strong woman for most of my time of knowing you.

As the years aged you, you grew more beautiful and you were radiant with an inner joy, born out of the sadness of losing your love. You delved into reading your Bible every night and something bloomed in you that I hadn’t seen before. I can only hope that trials in my life cause the same thing to happen to me.

This last time with you, when I realized you couldn’t recall much from the version of you I have known, I knew it would be time for you to go soon. Your body is here, but it’s time for your spirit to fly and for you to remember, and for you to be reunited.

I will always love you and I will carry the iron Ida in my soul and endeavor to leave a legacy like you did. One of faith, enduring support of your family, and connection.

You have brought me so much joy, Grandma.

Love,

Ailene

P.S. I’ll be eating artichokes and pomegranates a lot these days. Remembering how you introduced this picky eater to new foods that have become a love language for me to share with so many others.