Reflections of a Grandmother and Grandaughter

I actually wrote my first post before my granddaughter was born. I wrote it for the Sandals' Church blog, which had requested stories about our grandparents. There was an unexplained delay, so it actually was posted here first, but you can read it on their blog now too.

My grandmother, Helen Dill, is 90 years old. What a privilege it is to still be able to spend time with her! It is very sweet this year, because I had known since February that very soon, I too will be a grandmother.

Grandma was always looking out for the needs of others. It started when I was born, 3,000 miles away from her in Georgia. She hopped on a plane and was there before I came home from the hospital. Throughout my childhood, even though she was working as a nurse, she took care of my brother and me whenever my mom needed her help. She has always been one others could rely on for help as well. Even a few years ago, when my mom had surgery, Grandma was the one who came and took care of her until she was better.

Grandma has also amazed me with her acceptance of everyone. She may not approve of some things people around her are doing, but she just loves them with kindness. At times, as a younger Christian, I thought she was too accepting of others. Now, I realize that it is Christ's love she is showing them. She is one of the finest Christian women I know.

Although she has been legally blind for more than a decade, until last year when she moved into assisted living, she had someone take her every week to the women's Bible study at her church. She would increase her knowledge of the Bible simply by listening to women, some only half or one-third her age, discuss what they had learned by actually doing their Bible study. If I should suffer in my old age from the macular degeneration that blinded her and her mother, I will know exactly how to keep "reading" the Bible.

And even if my eyesight stays with me throughout my life, Grandma will be a role model to me in so many other ways. I hope to be for my granddaughter half the grandma mine has been and continues to be for me.