June 15

June 15.  A day that will always hold sorrow.  A day that will always have joy.

I come from a close knit family.  I'm close with most of my immediate relatives (my parent's brothers and their families, as well as my grandparents), and I'm also close with my mom's mom's side of the family.  Every few years we have a family reunion where we fellowship, laugh, and play lots of games, and make memories that will last a lifetime!  Out of all my extended family, this is the side we know the best. 

My Great Grandpa Siggelkow, the head of this family, always loved to visit with everyone...his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.  He loved it when we all got together. 

He was also very healthy and active.  He was in a bowling league with my Great Grandma, and so on his 90th birthday they went bowling.  He never wanted to slow down.  A few years back they moved into a seniors type building, but due to the lack of yard, they moved to a different place where they had a nice home and a yard with a garden! 

So, when we got a phone call sometime in March 2008 saying Great Grandpa was having trouble breathing and was in the hospital, it was a shock for the entire family.  Looking back on it, I think I thought it was something minor like pneumonia, but little did we know it was so much worse than that. 

He got testing done, only to find he had something wrong in his lungs, and the little things in the lungs that expand to allow oxygen to come into the lungs had kind of hardened.  I don't know much of the terminology, but they way I think of it is like a old rubber band that can't stretch anymore.  Great Grandpa had to be put on oxygen and they only gave him a couple months to a couple years to live.  It was devastating!

On the morning of June 15, I was upstairs in the kids wing of my church when my dad came up and told me Great Grandpa had gone to be with Jesus.  I knew it was coming to that, but when I found out couldn't have been worse timing, but at the same time it couldn't have been better timing.  I was broken.  He was the only Great Grandpa I saw on a regular basis.  I was supposed to lead a song that day, but due to what was going on in my life, I told my friend (the worship leader) I wouldn't be able to lead.  He asked me what was wrong and so I told him.  He immediately prayed for God's peace to be upon me.  And in the midst of my pain, God showed me how much He cares.  He showed me that He brings people into our lives who will love and care for us despite what we're going through.  So, even in my grieving God gave me reason to smile.

So in a nutshell, that describes June 15 and why it holds sorrow.  But how can it also hold joy?  This is why it holds joy...

My Great Grandpa was an incredible man.  When I think of him I always think of a song my mom's cousin sang at one of our family reunions.  I don't remember all the lyrics, but it talked about a legacy of love, passed down to the sons and the daughters.  My Great Grandpa left a legacy for all of his family to walk in.  It's not a legacy of fame or wealth, it really is a legacy of love...love for each other but most of all a love for God.  And that's why I can be joyful.  I know I'll see my Great Grandpa one day, and when I see him, I'll get to see my Great Grandma Clara as well.  (She died before my mom was even born and my Great Grandpa remarried my Great Grandma Hilda).  I am so grateful for the legacy my Great Grandpa Sigglekow left for us...