Journey to the Glass Palace

I watch the lacy wings of my grandmother’s favorite butterfly, letting the sun rays stream through the gauzy curtains and shine upon her wrinkled face. My grandmother, the keeper of my heart and the bearer of all my woes. She told me once that once we leave this earth, we walk along the golden-paved paths to our final destination. To a place of tranquility and solace, a glass palace in the sky of everlasting peace, watching over our friends and family.

However, the selfish thing is that, I don’t want her to leave. Not when the skies still bloom coral clouds and shine with bright opal skies. This is my decision, to never let her go. To hold on to the silk that binds us together. My eyes rest upon her face, my hand cupping her cheeks.

“Don’t go. Stay with me please,” I whisper softly.

My grandmother’s lips curl into a smile, still glistening with never-ending affection. She turns to me and says, her tone unwavering, “My angel, my granddaughter, my best friend, you need to let go of me. Love me and cherish me but don’t blame yourself for the inevitable. I will always love you.”

I look at her eyes welling up, silver rivulets stream down my cheeks as I reminisce our memories and the things that keep me from letting go. From letting go of the person I love the most. She knows and I know that her time is soon, when the coral clouds and opal skies start to darken into the shadow-laden sky and the moon-drenched clouds. She remains smiling, eyes closed and hands resting on the sheets. Her path to the next world forms. Now, I’ve decided that I can let go, that I can set her free into the open sky, over mountains, oceans and fields. Into the night and into the heavens. To never forget, to always love and cherish but to finally let go.

Like the favorite butterflies you adored so much, take flight into the glass palace, into the heavens where you belong, Grandma.