Grandma’s Hands

When I would go to see my grandma, she had the biggest smile on her face. She had dementia, but you couldn’t tell. I would sit and talk to her, laugh with her, pray over her, and we had parties for her over the years for her birthday and Mother’s Day. She had ten children. It was funny because she ruled that nursing home, haha! They let her roam the joint and do what she wanted. Back in her cooking days, she made us ridiculously scrumptious breakfasts with grits, bacon, scrapple, eggs, toast, and hot black tea. Man, I know that’s why I love hot tea to this day! She loved to cook for us, and we loved to eat. She was a beauty, inside and out, full of love, patience, kindness, and strength. My mom described her as royalty. Her homegoing was beautiful, fit for the queen she was.

I was honored to minister the song “The Goodness of God” acapella at the service. With my leg shaking and hand trembling, I did it. Apparently, no one noticed. A family friend hugged me and said, “You really commanded the room.” My uncle complimented me twice and my sister said, “I thought I was at a Broadway performance about to see a rocket booster with fire as she is lifting off the stage hoovering over us.” Then, she put two fire and two rocket emojis.

I burst into laughter. (She gets her sense of humor from our dad, lol.) Praise God for those who encourage, and it kept coming.

All for Grandma (and my dad). He loved it, and I hope I made her proud. She would have been ninety-four on Christmas Eve. I have truly experienced the goodness of God because I had a such a special grandma. She was my last living grandparent.

Make the call, send the text, write the letter, have the lunch, make the drive, and book the trip. Go out of your way to show love and spend time with those you care about. As we know, tomorrow is not promised. Who can you reach out to today? This week? This weekend? Whose face can you put a smile on now? Whose week will you make when they hear your voice or see your name? Yep, that person. It is my prayer that you will feel God’s prompting through this message. I’d love to hear about it.

The last two months have been emotionally exhausting. We’ve had three losses in our family in this period: my loving grandma, a beloved cousin, and an oh-so-dear aunt. I am so glad they all knew the Lord. I sat with my aunt the day before she passed away as she slept. I had the movie Anne of Green Gables (1985) with me, so we could talk about it, laugh, and recite scenes. She introduced it to me when I was a teen, and what an indelible mark it made on me (and now my daughter, Sydney). She was also the aunt who introduced me to the movie The Sound of Music. Oh, how I love these movies! They are responsible for shaping me into who I am today—a fun-loving, musical, and period drama romantic fanatic, haha! Thank you, Aunt Rufie. xoxo

I last saw my cousin at her brother’s homegoing in 2022. (She was my mom’s first cousin.) “Hey Toast,” she said. It was a nickname she gave me when I was little because all I wanted to eat at her house was toast. That sounds about right because I still love bread. When she found out Sydney loved biscuits, guess what her nickname was? You guessed it…“Biscuit!” Sister, as she was affectionately called, wanted to have lunch with us. It was always in the back of my mind, but now it will never happen.

On a lighter note, Biscuit (aka Sydney) is having her first social media webinar on Wednesday, January 31st. I’m super-duper proud of her! She’s so good at what she does. The title is: Beat the Clock: 7 Strategies to Save Time Creating Social Media Content. There are two sessions.

Social media management and content creation can be time-consuming, but it doesn’t have to be! Join Sydney for this eye-opening webinar for seven time-saving strategies you can implement right now as you brainstorm, plan, and create dynamic social media content for 2024.

You can register for the noon EST webinar here, and the 6 p.m. EST, here. Let’s help her sell out! And please spread the word.

Blessings!

Kenya