Journalist Cliff Sims is getting personal with his readers at local news site Yellowhammer by sharing something his family discovered after the passing of his beloved grandmother Billie Breland.
Sims explains in a recent post on Yellowhammer that after the Thanksgiving holiday, Breland suffered a broken hip and was never able to fully recover after the surgery she needed to repair it.
But despite the discomfort she experienced, the connection between Breland and her husband James remained as strong as ever:
“Every day my Grandaddy stayed by her side in the hospital taking care of her, just as he’d done for every one of the 60 years they’d been married — right up until the night she passed.”
During her life, Breland touched the lives of many people – a fact that moved Sims and his family:
Sims was concerned for his grandfather, as he explains on Yellowhammer:
“I heard so many stories about the impact my Mimi [Breland] had on people’s lives over the years… But I couldn’t help but think about my Grandaddy — the single kindest, most generous man I’ve ever known — having to wrestle with the Earthly loss of his sidekick of over six decades.”
But Breland thought of even that before her passing, and left a very special note for the love of her life to discover later.
Her letter reads:
“Please don’t cry because I died!
Smile because I lived!
Know that I’m in a happy place!
Know that we will meet again!
I will see you there!”
Sims explains on Yellowhammer:
“We don’t know exactly when she did it, but she left one final note tucked inside her checkbook — but this one wasn’t for her, it was for my Grandaddy, and it perfectly sums up the hope and comfort that comes with knowing you’ll meet again in eternity.”
James and Billie Breland have a love that lasted a lifetime. It is incredibly sweet and romantic for Sims to share their last message so that everyone can appreciate their love story.
(via liftbump.com)