Aunt Stella

We got a call from Atlanta a few minutes ago....my aunt Stella passed tonight. She was 92 years old and had lived with my parents for the last few years. Recently they were forced to move her into a nursing home...her health declined, and she struggled with advanced Alzheimer's disease and eventually came to need a level of professional medical care that she couldn't get at home. I think it hurt my parents deeply to have to do that, but it was in her best interest. They visited her everyday over there and did everything they could to make her last years the best they could. She was my grandfathers sister, and a wonderful person. She was married for most of her life to a saint, Uncle Mac. He passed away 15 or 16 years ago, and is still missed. We will miss Stella the same, and will share humorous stories about her for many years to come. Now comes the thing i really always dread the most.....funeral homes and funerals...hate em actually. But will be there to support me family and show some level of the love we have for Stella.

Here's the thing....I'm not sad....don't get me wrong I will miss her and I am saddened by knowing we won't see her again in this life. But.....she really wasn't Stella the last couple of years...and now she's with her beloved Mac again. Now she knows things again, and is back with him up in heaven. She went to sleep tonight and woke up in heaven with Uncle Mac...what more in this world can we ask for? We live our lives looking for love, and a few people find true love and spend many years with it, only to have it leave for a while when one of them passes on....the survivor must hold on to that hope, and live that life that will bring them back together on the other side. I'm certainly not the most religious person ever, but I KNOW God loves us and that he said we would be reunited in heaven...I know this is true....it has to be. I want to see my Nanny and Papa Jones again....my Papa Moore....the wife's mom and granny....Mac and Stella....Aunt Ruby.....Uncle Robert.....George Hill....those people are together again now....with their loved ones that were gone before I became me.....
I wonder though, is this a Pollyanna version of death? I think not....we are human beings and the thing that separates us from the animals isn't our brains or our thumbs...but HOPE. The hope that this life we live isn't for nothing and that the love we share will really never end........
I know in my heart that Stella opened her eyes tonight and saw Mac looking at her....and she smiled. Goodbye for now Aunt Stella....we love you