Grandma Riggs

Grandma and Cosmo, April 19, 2006

Virginia Heilbut Riggs-- April 19,1923- December 27, 2006

I was blessed to be sitting with my grandma when she passed away last Wednesday. It was a very difficult and spiritual experience. She had been very ill for a long time, but was truly in the final stages of leaving this life. We sat with her for about 45 minutes, then my dad, Tim, and Uncle Steve laid their hands on her head and gave her a blessing releasing her from this life. It was less than a minute after that when she took her last breath and finally rested. But if there is any experience that reaffirms to me the existence of an afterlife, it is being present when the spirit leaves its physical body. I have written a bit about that before. I am truly humbled and honored to have experienced that again, especially with my grandmother. It is an affirmation that whatever it is that makes something alive simply leaves its physical home.

So, dearest grandma, I will remember you always at the Oakcrest Lane house, making the best mashed potatoes and gravy on the earth, supervising garden work with a kleenex pinned to your brow, decorating cookie press cookies, the M&M jar, or being the Cougars' most supportive fan. All my love forever.