"I ran to the shore. Watching. The sight lingers with me still, to this day. I remember smiling and wanting. I watched."
I heard the thirst in her recall. She more than wanted that which she saw. More than wanted that which she experienced from afar. Him. She wanted Him. My grandmother's voice quivered on the end of the wire. I heard her tears, longed to hold her close. Though miles separated, our hearts in unison, beat together with His, Jesus.
"He loves you..." and my own tears escaped eyes burning with desire of more of Him. More to share, more to spill through this handset I held.
And she said. "I love Him."
Her encounter with God on the shore, I know now drew her child heart to her True Father. Our One True Father. And in the remembering, the Alzheimer"s remembering, the spontaneous Spirit cry, emerging Child heart, she desired Him still. And one white-robed figure followed by another quietly emerged from the wet of quiet water. She watched the man tenderly carry each one into the depths and then help them arise. New, and smiling. And pure joy. She watched. She told me of her child tears and wonder then, and I heard the longing Child.
And so did He.
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3 comments:
How very beautiful and moving.
Lovely and true, Sharen! Even in advanced Alzheimer's, Jesus continues to woo and draw His beloved to Himself. My MIL, in end-stage dementia, reports to us "beautiful springs of water everywhere!" I truly think this is some kind of vision the Lord is giving her, and it makes her very happy. Sweet and merciful and kind of Him, isn't it? And a blessing to us.....
Donna... Thank you so much. The memory still deeply moves me.
Katy... This was a profound moment for me with my grandmother. I never heard her truly express her faith. She was a very private woman before the Alzheimer's. Seems I glimpsed more of the real her during the early and mid-stages of the disease. Communication was less guarded.
I HATE the disease that robs us of our loved ones, but in the midst of that loss, in my personal experience, came vulnerability that assured me of her love for the Lord. And one day, I'll see her again.
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