My last remaining aunt passed away yesterday (at the time of this writing). She was my mom’s youngest sister at 88, but her health wasn’t good. It shouldn’t have been a surprise, but it always is. This passing. This finality.
The past few years have reduced the family generation above me to nothing. My dad’s been gone for twenty-five years, and even though he came from a large family, all his siblings and their spouses are also deceased.
My mom was the second-born of five. The eldest passed a number of years before Mom, the third in line was next, but Mom carried on quite happily until her 95thyear. She passed beginning of November 2017, then her next youngest sister went in December, and her youngest sib left us this January.
And that’s it. The older generation is no more.
My brother and I spoke of this recently. “Everybody’s dying,” he said. I agreed, and added that our generation is next in line. It’s a sobering thought.
Aging is a process best understood, unfortunately, when our time is nearly up! Most of us find a comfortable age and continue to “live there” as long as our bodies allow us to deceive ourselves. Suddenly we are old, and have no idea how it happened.
There are several ways to handle this issue of mortality:
— ignore it…but it won’t go away
— embrace it…but you will age more quickly (I aged a lot when Mom lived with us her last year)
— gain a balanced perspective…we were not made for this world only
To further explain the third option, this life is short, and for many people on this earth, very difficult. I’ve been blessed with love and “more-than-enough” my whole life, and yet I can find things to complain about. But the point is, this life is only a training ground, a weeding out, if you will, for eternity.
We were made for Eden, but we goofed it up big-time. Then the One who created us had mercy and took our punishment for our sin by sending His only Son—that’s Jesus—so we could be free from the penalty for our failure. And now, IF we accept His unmerited gift of grace, we can look forward to eternity in heaven as a reward for accepting mercy. How cool is that?
Yes, the journey may be unfamiliar, even frightening, but the destination will be worth it all.
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes.
There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain,
for the old order of things has passed away.”
Revelation 21:4
Jan, I am sorry for your loss. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
I appreciated reading your blog. Thank you for sharing. Now you have become the matriarch of your family and I believe that you have been busy building a legacy for your family. May God bless you.
Thanks for your kind words, Cathy. It is rather a shock when you realize you are the oldest generation in the family. But I have a lovely collection of cousins, so we can commiserate! Also, we happened to be in Lethbridge for a funeral and stopped by to see Aunt Erna on the Friday morning. Had a great visit and a few good laughs (her trademark), and then on Sunday evening she passed. So it was a bonus time for us.
So true! Life’s like a one-way conveyor belt, carrying us all to that final destination.
But when we know that destination, we have hope and joy. Wishing you joy today, Chris.
Thanks for your thoughts on the seniority of getting “up there” in years, but thanks also for reminding us that we will eventually and actually get “up there” to be with Jesus. It’s the getting there that is the struggle, but once we are truly there and in the Good Lord’s company, the tears and the sorrows will be gone. Amen.
Amen.
Beautiful insight, Jan! I read one paragraph aloud to my husband and he said, “Boy, isn’t that true!”
You wrote: “Aging is a process best understood, unfortunately, when our time is nearly up! Most of us find a comfortable age and continue to ‘live there’ as long as our bodies allow us to deceive ourselves. Suddenly we are old, and have no idea how it happened.”
Condolences on your aunt’s death, Jan, but thank you for your perspective on eternal life.
Thanks for your reply. We were able to visit with my aunt on the Friday (were in Lethbridge for another funeral), and she passed Sunday night. So we consider it a bonus to have been able to see her again and laugh with her (her trademark).