I was ? years old when my Aunt Jana died from brain cancer. I loved this aunt. She was beautiful – always smiling and encouraging. She was my birthday twin and would always come over to celebrate with me on our special day. Her outlook on life remained positive even while she battled the cancer. When her hair fell out from the chemo treatments, she wore a bandana and looked as beautiful as ever.
The day she died, they brought all of us kids to the hospital to say goodbye. It was scary and smelled funny. My once vibrant aunt looked so pale and small in that hospital bed. I kissed her hand and said goodbye, but really didn’t know what was happening. They took us to the waiting room where we stayed until we received word that she had gone. It was a long time before I could walk into the hospital without that memory.
Death is usually perceived as I saw it through my child-eyes. It’s sad, uncertain, scary – makes us want to curl up in a turtle shell and pretend it doesn’t exist. If we don’t talk about it, it will just go away. But since that obviously doesn’t work, we take every measure we can to prevent it.
However, I recently discovered another way to view this event.
In December 2019, my grandpa, Jana’s father, was taken to that same hospital after suffering a heart attack.
My mom kept us updated. “He’s ready to go home,” she told us.
Knowing this, my grandpa’s friends and family gathered around him for a last-rites service. They sang his favorite hymns and read passages from the Bible. My parents took a video of the occasion and sent it to us.
I was struck by the expression on my grandpa’s face; I could feel his spirit radiating out through the screen. I’ve never seen someone so patiently and eagerly awaiting his call into heaven. And I realized something. For his sake, I wanted him to go, even though the thought of it brought tears and pain to my heart.
Shortly after watching the video, I sat down to process the bittersweet feelings of seeing someone I loved preparing to leave this world for a better one. My grandpa had journeyed with God for all his life, and now, he was longing to meet the One he loved and served.
I turned on my computer and wrote the story, looking at it through the eyes of curious, imaginative child. Unknowingly at first, I tapped into my inner child and brought out her experience. Then I gave her a new one with a bigger, fuller perspective. I showed her that death, while still sad, doesn’t have to be scary. Instead, when we journey with God, as my aunt and grandpa did, it can be a good and beautiful transition to a new and better home with a God who loves us abundantly more than we could ever imagine.
Can two worlds exist at the same time?
Little Princess Lillian learns the spiritual world can interact with the physical. Imaginary is used to explain a reality, how heaven reaches down to earth as a young girl observes her grandpa awaiting his entrance into his eternal home.
How do you explain death and heaven to a child?
Led through a long hall in a hospital, Princess Lillian holds her mom’s hand as an angel whispers comforting words.
Incorporating bits of Native American and Christian tradition, an intimate celebration of a loved one’s passing occurs as a family says good-bye to a man eager to meet his best friend, the King Above All Nations.
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Jenny Fulton is a wife, mother, children’s book author, YA fantasy author, blogger, and freelance writer with a B.S. in Bible, a B.S. in elementary education, and an endorsement in K-12 ESL. After graduating from Grace University in 2007, Jenny worked as a teacher in a variety of cultural and educational settings, both abroad and in the United States. She is a storyteller, a follower of Christ, and a seeker of truth.
An enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, Jenny grew up hearing stories from her dad about the supernatural workings on the Navajo Reservation. Her days are now mostly spent raising her three young daughters (homeschooling two of them) and writing as much as time and opportunity allows.
Jenny is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), Faithwriters.com, and is an author with Capture Books.
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