Mimi is in Heaven...Oh Christopher!!!

Originally written on August 24, 2010

It's been a really crazy few days for our family, but here we are a couple of hours away from Mimi's great send off. My sister will be singing Amazing Grace today so keep her in your prayers! 

On Saturday, I went for a walk at like 8:30 at night in my neighborhood. There I was in the middle of walking and I just lost it. I had been thinking about the fact that Mimi actually married "late" in life, or at least what was considered late for her generation. If you were thirty, you were no spring chicken. Times have definitely changed. However, in the south, it is still very common to marry young and this is a cultural norm that I stare in the face on a daily basis due to the fact that I am still single. It's a very difficult thing to grapple with entirely. I felt angry that my Mimi in all of her wisdom had the life experience to give me advice in the midst of my current adverse circumstances, but she could not due to her dementia and ultimately her death. Don't get me wrong, it was her time to go, but humanly speaking, I wanted her guidance.

Fast forward to Monday, my dad and I went to confession in Lafayette and afterwards I was praying at Our Lady of Wisdom. I prayed, "okay Lord, let me know when she gets there.". Part of me felt like I already knew she was with Him, but the human side was demanding a sign, as always. 

After confession I did some running around and finally ended up at the funeral home for the wake. Five hours of seeing friends and family that I haven't seen in a long time was difficult, but also a lot of fun. At some point during the evening, I picked up a prayer card that we had printed for her and it said:

"I know not by what method rare, but this I know: God answers prayers. I know not whence he sends word that tells me fervent prayers were heard. I know not if it cometh soon or late; therefore we need to pray and wait.".

Apparently that was part of her favorite poem, but it was more than that to me. It was the advice I wanted from her all this time and it was her sign to me that she is alive and well in Heaven. I cannot be sad or worried because she is seeing our God face to face.

"We are ressurection people and Alleluia is our song!"