The photo of my dad, Jerry, and my oldest granddaughter, Phoebe Hope, was taken on my birthday in 2009.  I’m a memory maker….I love making birthdays, holidays and special occasions memorable and fun.  (I want my friends and family to have all the  sweet memories their hearts can hold!)  That birthday became a three generation memory.  We enjoyed lunch together and embarked on a nature adventure at a nearby reservoir.

There was rock skipping and up close investigation of the water’s edge.

One never knows as they are capturing memories in photos, how precious they will become years later.

Today, March 30, 2017, is Phoebe’s 15th birthday.  I was overjoyed to be with her mommy and daddy in the delivery room and I could hardly wait to hold her!

She has grown into a beautiful….warm… funny…. talented…. faith-filled young lady.  Today and every day I celebrate her life and pray for the future God has for her.

She shares her birthday with my dad’s birth-day… the day he took his last earthly breath and walked into eternity and the presence of his Lord, Jesus.   The timing will always be a divine mystery that eludes reason and understanding.

I think my thoughts on this day can best be described through a portion of the words my son, Casey, wrote and shared at my dad’s memorial service.  He scribed them as if my dad were speaking directly to me…

“Daughter of my earthly life,

cry only enough tears for your grief.

For I have entered into my Lord’s rest.

Here, there is no pain or hunger or thirst or want or

regret or anger.

Here, there is only light and peace and love.

It saturates every inch of this

new body.

I do not remember pain, nor can I give a definition or description of it.

The words that we used on earth to explain our trials are not used or even considered.

His love is too pure to be penetrated by any darkness.

Here, with Jesus, I feel right at home.

His face is familiar and His love I recognize, because ever since the day He

came and rescued you, you rescued me day, after day, after day with His

unending love.”