The reality of my grandmother's death has really hit me hard. I didn't know when it would, but as I read through several emails from her through the last few years, I felt like I was able to begin the grieving process. She was so incredibly encouraging in each sentence she wrote, not wasting an opportunity to build me up and tell me how proud she was of me. I grieve, among other things, for the fact that she wasn't able to make it to my wedding as she had a stroke just a few days before. She so wanted to be there and hear the music (she was a gifted pianist) and see me in my wedding dress.
Bonnie, Mom's good friend, wrote this sweet email to some dear friends and I wanted to post it here because it says so much about Grams and what she is experiencing now. Thank you, Bonnie.
Melodie's momma, Reba arrived quietly into heaven this morning.
However, surely Reba is fully alive now, having a tremendous time with the angels working out arrangements for new pieces of music and finding her place in the chorus of those who cheer us on!
Hebrews 12:1
"So we have many people of faith around us. Their lives tell us what faith means."
Reba is now in God's presence, shouting out our names and cherishing
each second of our work this side of heaven. Her life reminds us of what
faith means behind the seen.
She was a highly accomplished musician (pianist) who loved Jesus and her family with all her heart. Reba deposited these passions into Mel and was her biggest fan.
(I remember countless sound checks when First Call was on the road where
Reba would show up and just glow from head to toe, drinking in every
millisecond of our concert. She was childlike in this aspect. A woman
who was happy to be with her babes, to hear music that honored God,
to know she was with family.)
Nothing made Reba happier than seeing Dick and Mel, Todd, Julie, Jonathan, Missy and their children excel in their efforts to further the message of hope in Christ planted deep in Reba's DNA. She loved them without reservation
or judgment, and left this world in the same manner...quietly, grace-filled without announcement.
Please remember Mel's family in your prayers.
Reba's medical condition was complex: a stroke complicated by various
other symptoms that were unexplainable by her doctors. With prayer
and consent of the family, Reba's body has been donated for research that will hopefully give answers not available in her lifetime.
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