This week has been filled with happiness and joy, as well as sadness and despair. My beautiful niece, Nicole Elise was born the day before yesterday. She weighed seven pounds, and one ounce. Most of that weight in on her face, as you can tell from her fat cheeks. She’s absolutely beautiful, and my brother was the proudest father in the world. He was overjoyed to see his first child come into the world, happy and healthy. He kept calling everyone and telling them that he was now a father. You could hear it in his voice, the pride he felt from having a daughter come into this world. We were all overjoyed.

These are my grandparents, as well as my mother in the red dress. The baby in her arms is me, when I was only a few months old. My grandfather passed away almost six years ago. Yesterday, my grandmother also passed away. I was with her when she took her last breath, as were my mother and my aunt. My mother called it a beautiful moment, but I fail to see where the beauty is in watching the person you love pass on. In a way, I am relieved to see that she had a peaceful death. She had been suffering for years with Alzheimer’s, and it was slowly turning her into a vegetable. At least now she won’t suffer anymore, and I know that she is with my grandfather, in a much better place.

I won’t be online for a while. My grandma’s death has taken a toll on me. I loved her so much, and it still hurts even though we knew it was coming. It’s so weird because one life was born on Wednesday, and another was lost on Thursday. She will be missed so much.