Reflections on Vaporous Life

Lately I've been getting more and more into my family's genealogy and history. It's been really interesting to learn about the people who make up my heritage. One thing I found was that I may be distantly related to Oliver Cromwell, who is a first cousin twelve times removed. We've been rifling through old family photographs going back decades. As we look through these pictures I wonder, who are these people?

This past weekend we took a last minute trip to my dad's place in Ohio. A few days ago, my grandmother took a turn for the worse in her battle against cancer. It's progressed beyond the point of any effective treatment, which means her time left is short. She was in the hospital this weekend because she contracted pneumonia, which was dangerous for her. Fortunately, she battled through that and is back at home for the time being.

This picture is one that I found while we were home this weekend. It's my grandmother, grandfather, dad, and aunt in 1956. I wonder what it must have been like to be them back then. I'm struck because Kathi and I are about the same age as my grandparents in this photograph. We have some of the same hopes and dreams for the future. But, all of that changes in a breath. Now my grandmother's life is nearing its end. How quickly will Kathi and I find ourselves in this stage?

People really are but a vapor. Generations go by in the blinking of an eye. Please pray for grandmother that she would be comforted in this twilight hour.