“Rosalee…
“How ya doin’, baby? I guess I don’t have to ask that, do I? You’re with Jesus, how can you be anything but spectacular and amazing and beautiful. I suspect you’re running barefoot through heavenly fields, your long, red-brown hair blowing in the breeze. I figure your laughter squeals so loud all around you can hear it.
“Ya know, mommy got a tattoo dedicated to you over the weekend. It’s amazing. I really think you’d love it! Daddy says his is coming soon.
“Well, my guess is that your great-grandma, Linda—or ‘GiGi,’ as we called her—is playfully chasing you, playing games and swinging you around in the air. Your Uncle Josh was the first to call her ‘GiGi,’ which is actually ‘G.G.,’ for ‘great-grandma.’ He’s so silly, though, he would use ‘G.G.’ to call her ‘Granny Goose.’ I tell you that because I figured it’d make you laugh.
“GiGi always loved to dance, but the diabetes got so bad, she could barely walk let alone dance. But all this is not even a memory to her now. I sometimes wonder if the two of you dance together. I can almost see your smiles; bigger and brighter than our sun. I’ll bet you dance and laugh and sing with ALL your relatives! I’ll bet they get such a kick out of you!
“Speaking of, I guess by now you’ve met all your relatives who have passed into the waiting arms of Jesus; all your grandpas and grandmas, even though they probably don’t look much like what we think of as ‘grandparents’ now. I have cloudy memories of my Grandma Snow. She had such a contagious smile, which I guess you know by now. The only memory I have of Grandpa Snow, whom we called ‘Poppy,’ is his funeral. Yeah, he’s the original ‘Poppy,’ the one from whom I got MY grandpa nickname.
“I’m so thankful you will have not the slightest clue what a funeral is, or how difficult they can be, hon. Thank God for that.
“You probably know your Uncles; David, Kenny, Allen, Kelly, Gary and all the rest. I’ll bet you make them smile with your silly jokes and infectious giggle.
“So, when that dazzling, light-filled angel met you at the point of bodily death, how long did it take for the two of you to make it to Heaven? Was it instantaneous or did you get to play ‘astronaut’ and see a few sights on the way? Who was the first one you saw, once you passed through those heavenly gates? Was it Jesus? I’ll bet it was. I’ll bet He was so happy to see you. I’ll bet He greeted you with the biggest hug anyone has ever known.
“Ya know, your Nana Weddle once had a dream about Heaven. In the dream, an angel took her there, but they didn’t walk through the fabled ‘pearly gates.’ NO…
“They flew right over them! I’ll bet that’s what you and that sweet angel did, as well. I’ll bet you flew right over those gates, and into the waiting arms of Jesus, GiGi and all the others.
“It is my belief—and of course I can’t prove this—that, to people in Heaven, the time between their death and the arrival of their loved ones is but a brief pause. I believe you arrived in glory, and it will seem no time at all when your mommy and daddy get there. I’ll bet you run into their open arms, squealing and giggling!
“I can just hear your mommy and daddy now!
‘Our baby!’ they’ll proclaim. ‘Our beautiful baby girl!’
“Tears fall at the thought of this heavenly reunion. All the sadness will be wiped away, and we shall all be together forever.
“Sure does seem a long road down here, honey, but we vow to hold tightly to Jesus, so we can see you soon. For, in the grand scheme of eternity, the loneliness and pain down here won’t even register as a blip on the screen.
“So we shall keep laughing, keep crying, keep trying, keep pressing on, but most of all…
“We shall keep dancing. Until we can all dance together in the fields of the Lord.
“I’ll see ya soon, babygirl. I love you. I wish I could’ve met you, but I know that shall soon be remedied. Until then, keep dancing, my lovely granddaughter.
“Love,
“Poppy (the 2nd)”
Broken People 