After the service

People were milling around the house, talking in hushed tones as everyone ate. Jake and his wife were sitting alone on the sofa as Joshua walked by. His son had taken his death especially hard and Joshua was quite worried about him. Then he heard his son say to his wife. “You know, I know it couldn’t be so but I could swear that I smelled some of Great Granny E’s peanut butter cookies at the memorial service today. They still smelled warm. Since they were dad’s favorites, I’ll bet he was there with us along with Granny E. Knowing that makes me feel better.”

He knew that Jake would be all right. Joshua moved away from his son towards his youngest, silent most introspective child, Lila. As he approached Lila, his heart grew heavy with what he saw was in store for her. With death came knowledge, he suddenly realized, and some of it wasn’t good. He said a quick prayer as he had always done. It dawned on him that he had said a prayer just as he had while alive. Although he had never been religious, he always prayed. Joshua believed in God but not in the way that some did. He didn’t think God was judgmental or caused harm to anyone. God, to him, was the spirit of everyone mixed together. Joshua knew in his heart that the God he had always known was still there. He could feel it in his whole being; such a warmth and loving feeling encompassed his soul.

Learning new ways of living

Joshua knew that Granny E and Grandpa George were allowing him time to get adjusted to the idea of life after death. They answered his questions when he asked but he found that he already knew most answers. Maybe, it was just the confirmation and the return to being their grandson that made his ask. It felt good to have part of his family here with him.
  
Granny E explained to Joshua that he could live wherever and however he wanted. “Just like earth, people you know and some you will meet will come visiting when they have time,” Granny E said.
        
“Yeah, and you might start some new hobbies or work on making life better for yourself through some soul advancement studies,” piped in Grandpa George.
       
“You sure can,” Granny E announced just as she had while she was alive, with her hands on her hips and that twinkle in her eyes, “Just like George did. He started gardening on this side. The only trouble is all he wants to grow are sunflowers. Can you believe that, Joshua?”
 
Taking up for himself now, Grandpa George shot back, “Well, yeah. They are pretty and you can eat the seeds.
       
Joshua relished the thought of being able to continue living in such an unconfined manner with these two still going at each other playfully just as they had done when he was a child.