Gram’s Ride Home
Long before Gram (my Grandmother) ended up in a rest home, I asked her if she remembered seeing Halley’s comet in 1910. She was 11 years old at the time but had no problem remembering it. I mentioned to her that Mark Twain once said “I came in with Halley’s Comet … and I expect to go out with it.” She was happy to share a glimpse of her childhood. Without hesitation she smiled with a twinkle in her eyes and said, “I think I will too.” Not understanding I asked what she meant. She said, “I’ll do the same.” She spoke as though she knew what would happen, yet she never mentioned this to anyone besides me. In awe, I smiled and nodded my head as if I understood but I didn’t.
Anyone’s who’s ever met her immediately noticed the joy that illuminated from her humble soul. She always saw something good in each experience, she never complained and was thankful and content for the few possessions she had.
Almost a decade later, on a late fall evening, Gram was in the rest home fighting for her life. She was frail and suffering from multiple strokes. My mother and her two sisters were by Gram’s bedside, as they were each day she was in that place. I was at home anticipating the opportunity to see Halley’s comet. I waited several days for a cloudless night and was excited that it finally came.
With binoculars thrashing about my neck I carried my bulky telescope to the back field. The telescope was pointed to the southwestern sky. The binoculars were used to search the dark sky for the comet. Scanning the heavens for dim objects is like fishing; it takes a lot of patience. Eventually, I saw it out of the corner of my eye. It was too dim to see by looking directly at it, as is the case with most far away objects in the night sky. I spent the next half-hour manipulating and tweaking the telescope until I finally got the comet lined up and in focus. It was not close enough to the sun to form its tail causing difficulty in focusing on the dim and blurry object.
I raised my head from the eyepiece of the telescope and released an anticlimactic sigh. Immediately, overhead, I saw a fiery object heading from east to west directly overhead. I raised the binoculars and followed it until I couldn’t see it anymore. I immediately ran to the farmhouse to tell my brother Al and our father about what I saw. Just as I was about to speak the telephone rang so I answered it. My mother called to say Gram died about ten minutes earlier.
Surprisingly, I didn’t feel sad; I felt relieved and a great sense of peace came over me. I remembered my conversation a decade earlier and realized she died at the moment I saw Halley’s comet. I was fortunate to catch a glimpse of her blazing home to heaven.