Bye, Ma

Christmas 2009

Paul's grandma passed away on August 31st. She was a great woman with an immense love for her family. She was thrilled when she found out that we were expecting a child. While I was pregnant, we referred to him as P.J., for Paul Jr., once we knew he was a boy. Grandma loved P.J. from the moment she saw him. She couldn't remember Cael's name very well, so she and Grandpa were and are the only people who are allowed to call him P.J. Grandma thought he was just the best. She even had him speaking in complete sentences when he asked for more chocolate.

After the funeral, we were at their house, and Cael kept pointing to Grandma's recliner, saying, "Ma." I am grateful that he had the opportunity to know her in this life, and that he was able to bring her some smiles in her last years on earth.

At the burial in Safford, I told Cael to say goodbye to Grandma. He looked towards the casket from the Yukon (He was being a handful, as, usual, so we had adjourned to the vehicle.) and said in his two-year-old little voice, "Bye, Ma." He then blew kisses her way. My heart swelled then as it does now - for his tenderness at that time - for his awareness of his great-grandmother - for the veil which is still not completely closed for him which allows him to see that she is safely home.

Outside the Temple at Our Wedding - November 3, 2006