"Grandma Jane"
The Beautiful Lady in White — A Story of Agape Love
Grandma Jane was Missouri's great-great-grandmother — a beautiful, fair-skinned woman with long, silky white hair who stood about five feet four inches tall. She lived in the Lincoln Street projects in Newark, and every Friday she walked two blocks to 280 Prince Street, Apartment 5F, where Missouri's family would meet her on the corner and escort her home.
Those Friday evenings became sacred. Sitting down to dinner, talking, laughing, and praying — Missouri can still see her beautiful face. "When I tell you she was a beautiful woman, that's truly an understatement," Missouri writes. "She had perfect, fair skin, not a blemish anywhere, and beautiful, big eyes." Missouri never once saw Grandma Jane wear any color other than white, and she remembers watching her mother gently brush that long white hair — a tender ritual between two women bound by deep, unshakable love.
Grandma Jane was a strong believer in God. She prayed for everything and taught Missouri how to pray. Missouri believes her great-great-grandmother is the very reason her mother later sought God and chose a different path for the entire family. One evening at dinner, Grandma Jane told Missouri's mother that when she died, she would die in her house, in her bed. Her mother brushed it off — "Oh, hush, you're not going anywhere anytime soon!" — but Missouri remembered the piercing look in Grandma Jane's eyes. And she believed her.
After every dinner and table talk, Missouri's mother would tuck Grandma Jane into her own bed, lower the lights, and leave the door cracked just enough so the children could peek in and see her resting. One Saturday, that peaceful scene changed forever. Missouri's mother checked on Grandma Jane, came out for a mirror, and held it beneath her nose — praying it would fog. It didn't. "She's gone," her mother whispered through tears. It was the first time Missouri remembers crying hard — not fully understanding death, only knowing that her mother was broken, and something terrible had happened.
For a long time afterward, Missouri would ask, "Are we going to meet Grandma Jane to escort her here?" And her mother would answer softly, "No, baby, Grandma Jane's not coming here anymore." Missouri longed to see that fair-skinned, white-haired lady dressed in white walk through their door again — but it never happened. Now older, Missouri carries the weight of a goodbye she never got to say — and the gratitude for a woman whose consistent presence, corner walks, dinner-table prayers, and Agape Love became the sacred foundation of a generational legacy.
"I love you, Grandma Jane, I really do, and I am thankful that I have an opportunity to share your story here and to remember all the good that you were. From my spirit to yours, thank you for your Agape Love and such fond memories of such a beautiful soul… until we meet again, Grandma Jane."
— Missouri, My Journey to STYLETAINMENT, pp. 22–24
FAITHFAMILYAGAPE LOVEGENERATIONAL LEGACYNEWARKPRAYER
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