The Light Went Out

by Douglas Edward

"Ashes to ashes," the preacher described.
All that I could think about was that my grandmother Lada was gone. Her and I used to have some fun. Grandma Lada used to baby-sit me when I was younger and up until
she got sick. Yes, she spoiled me, being my mother Dora
and my father Mitche's only son. Now at twelve years of age, my grandmother Lada passed away; my mother's mother.

From when I was born to about a year ago, grandma Lada was always around for me. "Kada," she would call, as
she only lived a couple of blocks away. "Should we go and get some ice-cream?" My answer was always, "Yes."

"Dust to dust," the preacher spoke.
About a year ago grandma Lada got sick with lung cancer. She had to sell her house and move in with us.
Her husband, my grandfather, passed away almost nine years ago, when I was very young. So for a long time
grandma was all alone. We had room in our house to let grandmother stay in.
I helped my parents go through grandma's house and sell a lot of things. I remember my mother turning off the lights in grandma's house for the last time, because
grandma would now be with us.
In the past month it started getting dark so early.
When grandma was working on something in her room, her light was always on. Grandma would always turn the light off in her room when she was asleep or out of her room.
My grandmother was home from the hospital for awhile.
Most recently she was always in her room.

"Amen," the preacher ended.
The funeral was over.
There were tears in my eyes that ran down my cheeks.
The late fall air was brisk and blowing some leaves around.
My family and others went to eat at a restaurant.
Some people talked for awhile. It was now in the evening. It was getting dark outside. Everyone was going to their homes, including mother, father, and myself.

When we got to our house, my dad parked the car in our driveway. When we got out of the car we all noticed that the light in grandma's room was on. We all looked
for a moment and we saw her light go out. No one else was in that house.
We went inside, looked in grandma Lada's room. Everything was quiet and still. As I looked in her room,
I felt a sense of peace knowing that the light in her room went out, because grandma Lada went to heaven.