Today I’m saying goodbye to my Oma as she flys up to Oregon to live the rest of her foreseeable days with my aunt.
Oma has Alzheimer’s disease, and it’s been heartbreaking to see her decline. My dad said last night that we’ve essentially been watching her die a little every day.
Yesterday, we had a little family get-together to eat delicious food and say goodbye to Oma. She was so tired. Eventually she started heading to bed, and right before she settled in for the night, we prayed over her and hugged her. She was practically falling over, she was so tired, but if there’s one thing that would keep Oma awake, it’s hugs. She could hug forever and ever and never get tired of it. Right after I hugged her and kissed her goodnight, she stuttered something like “I- I… la… lof.” We were upstairs laughing and crying and reminiscing and such when Oma woke up and meandered upstairs. When she saw us all she quickly realized it wasn’t morning and that she’d only been asleep about an hour. She laughed a little at that, and said things like “oh” and “psh”, and would point at us all and smile.
We all told her that it was okay and she ended up hugging a few of us again. Then, mid-hug, she pointed at her head and said, with quite a bit of strength, “is- is s-stupa!” We all of course comforted her and told her she wasn’t stupid, and she’d say “yes, yes” and we’d say “no, no” and such. After a few tears and hugs, my mom led us all in a chorus of “When We All Get To Heaven” and Oma joined in and danced a little. Then we sent her to bed.
I don’t know how many more days I’ll be able to see my Oma here on Earth. But I’m immeasurably excited to spend eternity with her. I want to listen to all her stories, I want to hear her funny Swiss accent, I want to see her as a beautiful young woman again. “When we all get to Heaven, What a day of rejoicing that will be. When we all see Jesus, We’ll sing and shout the victory!”
