Friday, May 14, would have been Grandma Berkheimer's 97th birthday. She loved lilacs; each year the lilacs bloomed right around her birthday so we had the joy of seeing her enjoy her favorite flower as a "birthday present" from God. One year while she still lived in Florida, Mom even shipped her some fresh ones in bloom.
This year we had an early spring. When the lilacs bloomed, we placed a fresh blossom on Grandma's grave. And on Friday, in an act of honoring her and remembering her birthday, we put a bouquet of artificial ones at her gravestone. Recently as my children and I were discussing heaven, someone said, "Don't you think heaven is filled with lilacs just for Grandma?" I can't even imagine the beauty of heavenly lilacs!
WHERE THE ROSES NEVER FADE
(Music by Robert Metzgar Words by Janie West Metzgar, 1929)
I am going to a city,
Where the streets with gold are laid;
Where the tree of life is blooming,
And the roses never fade.
Here they bloom but for a season,
Soon their beauty is decayed;
I am going to a city,
Where the roses never fade.
Loved ones gone to be with Jesus,
In their robes of white arrayed;
Now are waiting for my coming,
Where the roses never fade.
Here they bloom but for a season,
Soon their beauty is decayed;
I am going to a city,
Where the roses never fade.
Here they bloom but for a season,
Soon their beauty is decayed;
I am going to a city,
Where the roses never fade.
Where the roses never fade!
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~1 Corinthians 2:9~~~~~~~~~~~~
