The Angels and the Bed

Dear Audrey,

Your daddy sent me the conversation you had when he told you about Grandy having cancer.

Here's his account:

In other news, I broke the news to Audrey and she seems okay. She wanted to know if Grandy was going to die, and I said "Probably not, but nobody knows. The doctors are helping her and we'll see."

She thought about that a bit and said, "if she dies she'll be the second one in my family to die." I said, "Don't forget about Granddad Harold, remember him?" "Oh yeah, his bed tipped over."

"That's right. You were very young."

"Well, if Grandy dies then she'll see mommy and Granddad."

I don't know if you remember the story about the bed falling over. Granddad Harold had been in a hospital bed in the den. After he passed away, Grandy wanted us to get the bed out of the den as soon as possible. Uncle Mark got some furniture movers and he and I managed to get the bed turned over on its side so that it would go through the front door. But Uncle Mark decided that we needed some more help to load the hospital bed into my truck. We were waiting for Kathy and Uncle Dag to come over, but you and your mommy and daddy got there first while the bed was still laying on its side in the middle of the floor.

You were not quite 3 years old yet. And you come running into the house, yelling, "Hi, Maggie! Hi, Grandy!" Then you looked around and said, "Where's Grandpa Harold?"

Your mommy grabs you on her lap and says, "Remember, we talked about this. Grandpa Harold has gone to heaven. The angels came and took him to heaven."

You looked around and said, "Well! Did the angels knock over the bed, too?"

We had to laugh! Having you around made it a little easier to get through a very difficult time for all of us.

I love you, Little Girl.
Aunt Maggie