New Year in Eternity (Part 2)

Just after the hospice nurse called the time of death, my husband came in, I had to tell him he was minutes too late, and a few minutes after that our pastor and his wife Melissa arrived. I asked the hospice nurse to get my kids, we told them that the Lord had taken Uncle home, and my little Cheyla, who was 5 years old at the time said: "Mommy, if Jesus came to our to take Uncle, how come He didn't take me too?" Shocked, I replied, "Honey, you know that when Jesus takes you to Heaven, you don't come back, right?" Not missing a beat, she stated, "Yes, I know we don't come back. But I want to be with Jesus too, and I won't miss you because you said time is different in Heaven, so I would see you soon." Will had just passed away, I had just lost my Grandmother, and now my 5-year-old was ready to go to Heaven and leave me behind. What could I say to respond other than, "Well, Jesus knows that mommy isn't ready for you to go to Heaven right now, because I would miss you so much."

My Grandmother died on Tuesday, January 3rd, 2006, Will died on Friday, January 6th, 2006, my grandmother's funeral was to be in Rome, NY on Saturday, January 7th, 2006. Because I couldn't be in two places at once, I wrote a poem for my Grandmother's funeral, I hope it captured how remarkable she was, everyone should have a grandmother like her.

The moment you entered a brand new world
And walked on through the gates of pearl
Oh how wonderful you must have felt
Approaching the Throne to which you knelt

In that moment you were made brand new
Beginning your life with the One who is Just and True
You received the promise from the Gift
For it is Him you will forever worship and up lift

The rest of us can only imagine your life in such a wonderful place
We are happy for you, though it still makes us cry to think of your beautiful face
Your body is healed, you are free from all pain
What to us is a loss, for you is a gain

You are loved very much here on this earth
But the One above knew to Him what you were worth
We got to be your family for just a short while
Knowing we will be together forever certainly brings us a smile

Gramma we miss you so very much
Oh how we wish we could have just one more touch
That you could know what you mean to your family and friends
Straight from the hands of God, you were an angel that was Heaven sent

On earth this may be a final good-bye, and our lives together are through
When our eternity begins, we will have the chance to begin a new life with you.

1/05/06
For Gramma St. Louis

Everything in me hurt, I needed and I mean needed to be in New york with my family, I needed to be here for my kids, they had lost Uncle, whom they had been close with their entire lives...I was pregnant and sick, and now I had a funeral to help plan. I stayed home, and while my Grandmother's funeral was taking place, I was at home, with horrid morning sickness and a wretched migraine to boot while My husband and Will's family were making arrangements for Will's funeral to be held on Sunday, January 8th, 2006.

Prior to Will's passing, our Pastor and his family had announced that they had been called back to their home town, and had been in contact with someone who was interested in replacing him. Well, the Sunday chosen weeks earlier, was the Sunday we were to celebrate Will's life, the day his Pastor and friend would officiate his first funeral. (Sadly about a year later, his second funeral was for a baby...God doesn't always make things easy) The Pastor, that would, in a few weeks time, be taking Bryan's place walked into a room full of mourning people... Worship was the most emotional, but it was so beautiful.

We didn't have much of a chance to talk with our soon to be new Pastor Bob and his wife Erin because the funeral was right after church. So we left  early to prepare things for the funeral at the funeral home, and everyone else filtered some time after.

The funeral was nice, we laughed, we cried, and considering it was put together in about a day, there were quite a lot of people there. Later that year Will's daughter and his ex-wife held a memorial for him in Nevada, so other friends and family could say their good-byes.

God is amazing, that was a brutal week, thinking back on it brings tears to my eyes, and it still seems like yesterday. Some memories just don't fade...But God allowed me to see something so beautiful, when He came for Will. I tried to express what I saw in the poem that I wrote for his funeral, I hope this poem shows you what a wonderful person Will was, and how amazing God is.

He came and took your spirit by the hand
And led you on through unto the Promised Land
Leaving all your earthly troubles behind
And brought to a place with new treasures to find

Reunited with loved ones of old
Taking long walks on streets made of gold
Your new life must be such a wonderful thing
With the Angels to Jesus you will now sing

You have been freed from all sickness and pain
And though right now our tears fall as rain,
Thinking of you will put smiles on our face
Knowing that you are in a far better place

One day, one moment, in the blink of an eye
We will be back together at our Home in the sky
There we can laugh, we can play, we can jest
As a father, brother, friend and uncle, Will, you were the best

You were the most patriotic person we knew
And your loyalty went far beyond the red, white and blue
You were so honest and giving, and so full of love
Faithful and true, you were a gift from above

Thank you for sharing the beauty of your life with us here,
You have given so many memories that we will forever hold dear

-Michelle Sabrosky
For “Uncle” Will 1/06/06

Through that week of pain and heartache God held me, He never left me. It was by His strength that I got through that time, I couldn't have gotten through it without Him.

*On June 28th, 2006, at 7:16 in morning 7 lb 1.6 oz Joshua William Sabrosky entered this world.*

Originally posted on my Life in the Motherhood blog on WordPress.com on Jan. 4th, 2012