Spring Break 2K16

Spring Break 2K17 is right around the corner, and it has me pondering and reminiscing on how I’ve spent them during college. Freshman year, I just went home for a week because I was homesick. Sophomore year, I went to the Outer Banks with my best friends. Junior year, I went on a cruise in the Bahamas and soaked up the sun. But, last year was a spring break for the books and is one of my most favorites. Here’s what I wrote towards the end of my Senior year Spring Break: 

“It’s Spring Break of my senior year of college. My friends are at the beach, my team mates are traveling up the East Coast playing sand volleyball, and my parents are in Texas visiting colleges with my sisters. But here I am, in Lima, Ohio, sitting on my grandparents couch with no one under the age of 65.

If I said I chose this “destination” for my last Spring Break I would be lying, but I am so glad I am here. Two months ago, I tore my calf muscle and had to have a procedure done on my leg two days before the break started, so anywhere fun, warm, and in the south was not in my plans. My grandma came to my school in Tennessee to pick me up and we headed north to the cold and I have had my leg propped up ever since (4 days). This brings us to the now.

I am currently sitting here watching my grandma sort through her sister’s medicine because she has it mixed up. My great aunt has dementia and cannot remember what she is supposed to take. Usually, her husband would help her remember, but he is currently in the hospital with fluid on his lungs. My great aunt is going to be staying here at my grandmas house with us until my great uncle is better.

My grandma’s brother is also currently here. He’s been staying here for awhile because he has recently been diagnosed with leukemia. She’s been taking him to his doctors appointments, staying with him in his extended hospital stays, and keeping track of his chemo pills that are delivered to her front door. How does my grandma do it? She can make a saint look bad with her list of good works.

But I can’t forget my grandpa either. He’s currently sitting up at the hospital with my grandma’s sister’s husband (the one who has fluid on his lungs). Did I forget to mention that my grandpa has a type of leukemia too? Well, he does. But he continues to go, go, go and do for others just like my grandma does. Not once have I heard either of them complain. In fact, I truly believe they love taking care of others. The house that I have always called “Mammaw and Pappaw’s House” is a truly a house of healing. I know first hand because I’m here healing as well. She makes every one of her “patients” feel special, happy, and loved.

Their phone rings off the hook (more than I can ever imagine a phone ringing), they’ve pastored a church for 44 years and attend every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night, and they just adopted a dog because their lives have recently “slowed down”. They amaze me in every sense of the word. They love what they do, and that’s what makes them so good at it.

I’m sure some people may think I’m crazy or even lying for saying I am loving spending time here, but I am not. The love of Christ radiates from my grandparents and can’t help but make the healing process faster and easier. I see it in my Great Uncle, my Great Aunt, and even in my own leg. This spring break is going to be one for the books and I can’t thank my grandparents enough for taking care of me, being the perfect example of God’s love, and creating this house of healing for all those who need it.

My grandma has told me stories about how much she loved her grandmother, and when she was little she told herself that she would be a great grandmother just like her’s was. I never want to forget the memories I have made at my grandparents house, and although I never met my grandma’s grandma, I know without a shadow of a doubt that she was one incredible lady if that’s who was a model for mine.”