This was not Connor's first time to see a lifeless body. My mother-in-law passed away in 2007 and Connor was almost 5. When he approached her casket at the visitation, he snuck up stealthly, crouching low & popped up to her body & yelled "Boo!" Of course nothing happened so he said it again. My 8 year-old niece was standing behind him and told him that she couldn't talk b/c she was dead. Connor promptly pokes my MIL's body on the forehead and surmises that "Yep, she's dead." He then runs off to play.
Just 3 weeks & 1 day after my grandfather's funeral, my grandmother enters eternity to be with him & Jesus. My aunt went to visit with her the weekend before she passed & everything had been fine. She left on Sunday & Grandma fell Sunday night, started throwing up then became unresponsive. The next morning she passed through the door way of death. I tell you , it felt like deja vu sitting at her services the following Friday. Almost eveything was the same: Chad was a pallbearer just as he had been three weeks prior, Connor sat to my left & my cousin's girlfriend sat to my right, the preacher was the same, the place was the same, the time of the services was @ 0900, & we ate at the church after the graveside service. The whole thing felt like the end of an era. No longer would we have a reason to travel to the town where my grandparents lived nor would all of my dad's family likely see each other as often - possibly never again.
These deaths had been weighing on my mind lately and I decided to read a book my Sunday School teacher had read & mentioned about to our class in the past - 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper. The basic jist of the book is that the author, Don Piper, dies instantly in a car wreck in 1989. He immediately goes to heaven & describes his experience there in this book. A minister comes to the scene of the wreck & feels the Holy Spirit telling him to go pray for the dead man in the car. The minister climbs in through the wreckage, places a hand on Don Piper's shoulder & begins praying then singing a hymn. After being dead for 90 minutes, Don Piper comes back to life & starts singing along with the minister. I'm only half-way through the book & am at the part where Don Piper is describing his recovery - a horrible & gruesome recovery. Anyway, in one part of his experience in heaven, he speaks of his great grandmother. Here is a quote:
My great-grandmother, Hattie Mann, was Native American. As a child I
saw her only after she had developed osteoporosis. Her head and shoulders
were bent forward giving her a humped appearance. I especially remember
her extremely wrinkled face. The other thing that stands out in my memory
is that she had false teeth - which she didn't wear often. Yet when she
smiled at me in heaven, her teeth sparkled. I knew they were her own, and
when she smiled, it was the most beautiful smile I had ever seen.I started laughing when I read that part, thinking about Connor's comment about losing your teeth when you die. Well, PawPaw must have one of the beautiful smiles on his face now & sparkly teeth to go along with it!
