by: Hannah Dearth

You never “lose” a grandparent

What words and memories come to mind when you think of grandparents? Kind, fun, giving? Delicious food and sleepovers?

A grandparent is such a gift in childhood, and beyond. Whether you only knew your grandparent in elementary school, or through adulthood, they always hold a special space. A nostalgia that makes you smile.

When grandparents pass away, it can be one of the first grieving experiences that we have, no matter the age. But, I would argue that we haven’t lost them.

No, they live on. Whether it’s in our faith or in recipes and traditions, our features, or just a memory we hold that lives in us....they may be gone from this earth, but they are not lost.

Grandparents hold so much history about our lineage. A time so very different from our own. What a beautiful gift to learn what life was like, how different it is now, what got you in some ways to where you are. All of that, that lives on. Just like it will live on in our children and their children.

The death of a grandparent never stops aching, but remember, while it may be a loss from this earth, in so many ways, they are not lost. They are right here, all around you.