Mema Says Good-Bye written by Cynthia Jaskwhich illustrated by Luthando Mazibuko
Bellwood Press Evanston, Illinois
Bellwood Press, 1233 Central Avenue, Evanston IL 60204-0605 Copyright © 2010 National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States All Rights Reserved Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper ∞ 13 12 11 10 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Jaskwhich, Cynthia Sheperd. Mema says good-bye / written by Cynthia Jaskwhich ; illustrated by Luthando Mazibuko. p. cm. Summary: A terminally ill grandmother gently explains to her grandchildren that she will pass away soon. ISBN 978-0-87743-710-9 (alk. paper) [1. Grandmothers—Fiction. 2. Terminally ill—Fiction. 3. Family life— Fiction.] I. Mazibuko, Luthando, ill. II. Title. PZ7.J2985Me 2010 [E]—dc22 2009048106 Design by Patrick J. Falso
One day Mema called her grandchildren Emily and McKinney to come and sit on her bed because she had something important to tell them. 1
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“Many of us think of heaven as the place where we go once we die. Some are afraid of going to this new place. But I know that heaven, or the ‘next world,’ as Bahá’ís sometimes call it, is even more glorious than this world. So, going from this world to the next one is a time to rejoice, even though right now it seems sad.” Outside Mema’s large window, the sun was slowly descending. The clouds that stretched along the horizon were the color of ripe papaya.
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All three of them sat and cried for a little while longer. Then Mema said, “You know how I love to garden. Sometimes I see a plant that is doing well in a certain spot in the yard, but I know that it will really flourish in another spot, maybe because there’s more sun or shade that would be better for that particular plant.”
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