A couple of nights ago, we were at dinner and Little was talking about her Papa. I told her the story about how we chose the cemetery because it was actually on a golf course. She stopped me with a stern look, hand on her hip, and asked why I hadn’t taken them there yet. The girls didn’t come to the cemetery for the burial because Mom and Dad were worried about the military gun salute scaring them. So, yesterday after breakfast, we went to the store and bought flowers to lay at the grave.

Little was very brave. She is my tender hearted one. She placed the flowers. They both placed a stone at the edge of the grave and then she wanted to talk about him. We looked at the surroundings, talked about how much Papa loved golf. We checked out the little stones and trinkets people had left for him. And then the inevitable lip quiver and I knew she was ready to share her grief and gain some closure.

She looked down and said, “Nana, you know…he’s not really gone. Just part of him. It was just his body that died.” Then she asked me about HOW he died. It was the first time we talked about the specifics. I was honest without getting into the gory details. She sobbed and got it out and regained her composure rather quickly. I’m glad we had that moment together. I hope it helped her as much as it helped me.

Little ones need closure as much as we big ones do.

❤

“You will surely forget your trouble, recalling it only as waters gone by. Life will be brighter than noonday, and darkness will become like morning. You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety.”

Job 11:16-18