The Healing Journey

October 22, 2024

“And like that, I said goodbye to my grandmother like we were two people who met in a coffee shop, shared a lifetime of stories and left wanting more, but knowing we’d meet again.”
— Darnell Lamont Walker

After Franco buried his elderly aunt, he found himself walking around the cemetery on a cool autumn afternoon. The leaves on the maple trees had changed and were falling off. He hadn’t been to the cemetery in a long time. He used to go with his mother every Sunday after Mass to pay their respects and say some prayers at the graves of his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who had died.

He looked back on life and thought about the dozens of people who had passed away over the years, and he came to the troubling realization that he was probably next in line. The previous generation and the generation before them were entirely gone. No one was left except for a cousin here and there, and his kids and grandkids.

So many names and so many faces, so many family members and so many friends had gone to their eternal rest and were scattered among the thousands buried in this cemetery. And as he looked out over the vast field of gravestones and private mausoleums, he felt a sadness come over him. So many gone. But the sadness didn’t last long because his next thought was that now they were all together, laughing and joking and celebrating and reminiscing. In that moment, his fear evaporated because he looked forward to being with them again someday. All of them. Yes, he missed them, and he was sure they missed him … and he was convinced their reunion would be a joyful one — if not a boisterous one — in Heaven.

***

A family reunion in Heaven is something we can all look forward to.