I can only imagine what a glorious day it is in Heaven today and are they celebrating in Heaven today? It’s my grandma’s birthday, which she called the “Turd of March” in her little voice with laughter underneath. I know that when you receive your reward of entering Heaven, you receive the gift of never aging or celebrate birthdays, but I can’t help but wonder if my grandma, in some way, celebrates it. She loved her birthday even though it was a big deal when she was growing up. Possibly because she grew up in the early 1900’s and things were scarce in her family. How could it not be with 10 children? Times had to be so hard with raising that many little ones. I do know that even if money was scarce, love was not. She always told me, as a child, that growing up was hard but they always had love and plenty of fun doing things that kids did back in those old days.
I do wonder what Heaven will be like and especially knowing my grandma is going to be there with my grandpa and the others who have already gone before us all. How much fun it will be to see them again and to hear her laughter again. It’s a laughter that comes straight from the depth of her belly. She was a silly little lady and brought so much joy and wisdom to her family. She was like to dream about grandma. You’d walk into her home and see her either sitting in her favorite chair with the Bible on her lap, or you would see her at her dining table with the Bible open wide because she was having time with Jesus. She had so much knowledge of the Bible that I truly believe she could have read it word for word by memory to you. I know that if I ever had a problem the second one to call after Calling God, was calling grandma. She had that special open line to God. She never had to go through an operator or worry about the line being full of chatter. She had that direct line and she’d call up immediately and God would answer His line immediately for her. I sometimes wonder if she was an angel and just didn’t know it.
I love remember my grandma and all the stories of our family heritage as well. She was a walking book I think. She remembered stories and told them to us after Sunday dinner. We would all sit around the table and listen to her and ask questions. She always knew an answer and remembered even the little details of things. The greatest thing about her stories were learning about the family heritage and how God was a big part of almost everyone’s life. She actually remembered more about my grandpa’s family and journey than that of her own. As remember as a young girl being so intrigued with my family and where we all came from. Who was related to who and where they arrived from. The genealogy of my family spreads out to many countries and in the US, several states and especially the one I am in now, Texas. It’s where the Millican’s lived and repopulated the earth several times. So many children born and raised here before they moved on to Oklahoma and then Colorado. In fact, I don’t live far from where my great-great grandparents, both side of the great grandparents lived and came together to make my family.
If you have ever had such a beautiful. special person in your life, I would love to hear your story about them. My grandma became a big part of my life as I grew older. I loved being with her and just enjoying the conversation. Those are days that I will cherish forever. As she got older and closer to her 90th birthday, her mind didn’t work as good as it had once. She never forgot the past but would forget the things that had just happened or happened the day before. The days before she went on Home to Heaven were sad for me but also wonderful because I knew she’d only be gone for a little while and then I’d see her again forever. My heart was so broken when she left this earth but I did have the gift of knowing where she went. She made sure that every family member, no matter how far down the line they were, was aware of the salvation gift Jesus had given us. She told you about His great love and said she sure hoped we’d accept it so we could all be together some day and it would be for eternity.
That is only a dash look at my grandma, Rose Gladys Babcock-Millican, because her life was so big it would take a lifetime to tell you all about her.
One day soon, Grandma, One day soon, I will get to see you again and enjoy our tea together and hear your laughter again. I miss you here but can’t wait to see you there.
TonniLea Millican-Larson
