Because It’s Not Over

As I type this, we’re preparing to attend the funeral of one of my aunts tomorrow. I just finished ironing my husband’s button-down collar dress shirt — the one that mostly gets pulled out for funerals and the occasional wedding. It’s funny how certain clothes quietly mark the seasons of our lives.

My aunt was actually my great-aunt, the baby and the last of my grandmother’s siblings. And as I’ve been preparing everything, my heart keeps drifting back to my precious grandmother. We lost her in 2022 at 97 years old, and there isn’t a week that goes by that I don’t think about her.

She helped raise us when we were little. Some of my sweetest childhood memories were spent at her house on weekends — the familiar smells from her kitchen, the sound of her voice, the way she made each of us feel seen and special. She was steady. Faithful. Loving. A quiet example of what it looks like to serve your family with pure joy.

This morning, remembering it all made me ache a little. I miss her so much. But then almost as quickly as the sadness came, a burst of joy filled my heart. Because for those of us who belong to Christ, this isn’t the end of the story. What feels like goodbye is really “see you later.”

There is a reunion coming. A table bigger than any family gathering we’ve ever known. A home where death doesn’t visit and tears don’t linger. I can just imagine my grandmother reunited with her siblings right now — laughter restored, strength renewed, waiting for the day we are all together again. That hope changes everything.

It reminds me to love well now. To say the words. To show up. To live faithfully in the small, ordinary moments because those are the ones that become the memories.

We don’t grieve without hope. We remember with gratitude. And we keep our eyes lifted toward the promise that this life is not all there is. Until that reunion day, I’ll hold her in my heart and thank God for the gift of having been loved so well.

And friend, if you’re grieving the loss of someone you love, I pray you feel that same steady hope — the quiet assurance that in Christ, goodbye is never the final word.

“We do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope…” 1 Thessalonians 4:13–14

Back in 2020, I interviewed my grandmother about what they ate when she was a child. You can ​see the video here​.

February 20, 2026 Morning Brew

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