Memories of Snow

The Last Time I Saw My Grandfather

The Last Time I Saw My Grandfather

The last time I saw my Grandfather was in a casket, at his funeral, dressed in his Sunday best. He was wearing the suite that he wore to church on Christmas, Easter, and to our Vacation Bible School Pageants. This isn't the way I wanted to remember Grandpa, which is why I don't like open casket funerals.

Grandpa didn't attend church every Sunday, instead he attended when it mattered. He went to church when one of his grandchildren was in a religious pageant, or when it was a Holy Day. This is how I want to remember Grandpa, but the last time I saw him was in a casket at his funeral.

Grandpa wasn't a church going person. He believed in God; however, he didn't think one had to go to church to be a good person. To him a good person was someone who respected others, assisted his neighbors when they needed it, and treated everyone equally. Grandpa didn't thine others were going to hell because their religious beliefs were different fromhis, or because they called God by a different name. This is how I want to remember Grandpa, but the last time I saw him was in a casket at his funeral.

I want to remember Grandpa setting in the pews when I recited the Bible verse I memorized in Vacation Bible School. I want to remember Grandpa the way he looked when I was in the Easter pageant reciting John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." I want to remember Grandpa smiling, as I stood on the stage of the Southern Baptist Mission and sang "We Three Kings:. This is how I want to remember Grandpa, but the last time I saw him was in a casket at his funeral.

Author's Note: ▼

I wrote this on 3 Rhhmat 161 B.E.