life and death and in between

yesterday, the plan was to finish hanging up pictures in my room, go get a tn drivers license, and do a few other things. i talked to my mom about 1 yesterday afternoon to find out a couple things. wednesday, my grandma had been taken to the ER because she was having pains. her appendix almost ruptured, but they were able to take it out just in time. she's still in the hospital, and probably will be until sunday. she has an infection, but she's doing okay. i just saw her on sunday and she was perfectly fine, so to even think that if she hadn't gotten to the hospital in time something horrible could have happened. it's nuts. i also found out that a great aunt had died and the funeral was today. i wasn't planning on a trip home this weekend, but that's what it turned in to.

i wasn't close with this aunt, but there are some things i distinctly remember about her. one was that she was this crazy little old lady who was known for doing the hula. she'd put on her little grass skirt, and dance the hula. i have no idea about the story behind it...but all i know is that i remember it. so it was pretty hillarious when i walked in today to see her hula skirt hanging up beside the casket along with pictures of her actually doing the hula. i had a bit of an elizabethtown moment. it only got stronger as i tried to contain myself at the end, when i realized she was being burried with the hula skirt.

i was asked a question in an interview not too long ago, "if you were to die tomorrow, what would you want people to say about you at your funeral?" at the time, i thought it was a pretty tough question. but after today, i'm pretty sure that i'd want to hear most of the same things i heard today about my great aunt alma. everything i heard today was about what a great woman she was. she was all about her family, always planning get togethers and family events so her family and friends could be together. in fact, before her death, she was part of planning for a huge family reunion later in the month (it's still going to happen). but all the stories talked about what a great woman of faith she was. one of her daughters told a story about how she let a bag woman into their home and cooked her dinner. once she had fed the lady and she left she told her husband that she was trying to get beyond the smell of the woman because she "stunk to high heaven." so he asked her why she'd invited her in. her response was "because you never know what clothes jesus is wearing." and that was pretty much the same theme of most of the stories i heard today. that, and the fact that she loved to make people laugh and i'm sure that's where the hula came in handy.