My Grandpa Passed Away

I'm headed back to Detroit this weekend. My grandfather, James K. Hughes, died on Monday morning. He'd had Parkinson Disease and had been really sick the past four years. I took the news harder than I thought. When me and my children saw him four weeks ago at the reunion, I knew that was the last time. He was in the hospital and could only blink at me. I'm glad he is free of pain and with his parents and his sister that passed before him (there's still six siblings left).

But as I was telling my Aunt Tawana, I'm glad he's pain-free, but I wish he was pain-free and still alive here on earth. That picture above is on my vision board. I'd taken pictures of my grandparents when I was in Detroit this spring, but I didn't want to post any of those again. This picture, with my grandmother Pearl, was taken in 1999 at my Great-Uncle Robert and Great-Aunt Virginia's 50th wedding anniversary party. My grandparents were married for 57 years. (WOW!...I love my husband but whooo, that's a long time.)

The good news is that I get to see my mother for a hot minute when my flight connects to Atlanta. And I get to read "Heal Thyself," "The Secret," and "The Seven Spiritual Principles of Success" while I'm flying around. The other interesting news is that I get to see my father, who I haven't seen in five years. I'm not sure if that's good or bad, but I will have a story to tell when I get back.

The past month has been very emotional, between Grandpa passing, my cycle, the water main break (which I still haven't told ya'll about yet), and the family reunion I feel like I haven't breathed in 30 days. And bringing this all under the umbrella of raw food, I realized that I've got the preparing of the food down. It's the emotional eating part that I have not mastered. I see it coming together in my mind. I feel like I have training wheels on my bicycle as I'm pedaling furiously down the street. I can ride the raw food bike, but with assistance.

Last night, I looked at my life as if I were outside of me looking in. "What does she need to work on?" I asked myself. "Healing herself," is what I heard. The reason why I've been talking about raw food in terms of a journey, rather than a destination, is because The Hero's Journey is a metaphor for life. I haven't met a person who doesn't have challenges. Our task as human beings is to conquer the very challenges that limit us.

I am meant to conquer emotional eating, my feelings toward my relatives, and the sometimes isolation of a stay-at-home mom. Turning the perceived negatives into positives is the key. Everything is mental. But I feel more mentally positive when I am raw, and it's easier to change your life when you feel good. And feeling good is the primary key of the Law of Positive Attraction.

And when a relative passes away, those left are forced to look at their own mortality. We all have different definitions of success, but I would say if you have a life full of love, then you had a successful life. My grandpa certainly had LOADS of love his life. I'd be surprised if the church isn't bursting with people who loved him. My grandparents are the ones who kept me in the "Hughes Family Loop." As a child, when my dad stopped coming to get me for the weekend, they stepped in. If it weren't for them, I might not even be going to the funeral. They had enough love for me to keep me a part of the family.

Now that's love.

I love you Grandpa and I will miss you.

Love,
Althea ◦

My Grandpa Passed Away