Hello friends. For the next week we will be posting a series of tributes written in honor Luke. If you'd like to write or suggest a tribute, please let me know. This one was written by Holly Corr. Holly and her husband Joey are long time friends of ours, and Holly has graciously volunteered to clean our home for the past couple of years as we cared for Luke.
Luke: "Oh no, what season are you on (for Gilmore Girls)?" Me: "I'm a season behind you but I'll just wear my headphones while I clean." And sometimes he would say no and change it to another show, or sometimes he would watch Gilmore Girls anyway. Two years ago in August, I started my cleaning business after much prayer. I KNOW God led me in that direction because I was going to be able to contribute financially to our family. But God's path is never just one dimensional. It is a work of art...a multi-layered path. God said yes to the cleaning business to also bless me by having me bless others. I am so honored to say that for the past two years I have cleaned for my friends James and Laura. I am honored because I had no idea that cleaning for them would allow me to get to know them better, along with Sam, Jay and Luke. There are so many things I loved about walking into their home and yes, I'll admit, sometimes I walked in with apprehension because I would never know how Luke was feeling. But my momma taught me to walk in anyway. And that kid...that LUKE! Yes, I saw him at some weak times but also some wonderful ones, despite his condition. This boy lit UP one day when his dad returned home from a conference and another time when Grandpa Granger entered the room. This boy L-O-V-E-D his momma. It always made me laugh that he would watch Band of Brothers or the Walking Dead with his dad and then watch Gilmore Girls with his mom, always pausing the show if she left the room for a minute...so they wouldn't miss anything. This boy got me hooked on Gilmore Girls and other teen shows I'm not exactly proud to admit. Oh, Luke. Just over a month ago, I showed up to clean as a friend of Luke's was leaving to get him some kind of coffee that, according to Luke, would take away this friend's man card. I started to work but Luke stopped me. "Sit, sit," he said pointing to the chair next to him. He wanted to understand a conversation he had overheard me having on my cell as I had walked into the house. He and I sat and talked for like an hour. I learned so much in that hour: Luke loved skyscrapers and has been to many. Luke knew city sky lines by looking at the pictures. Luke was interested in other people's perspectives...and was not afraid of his own opinion! Luke liked to beat the snot out of you when playing any and every game ever made (hey, thanks, Luke, for giving me a 30 second head start on the Rubix's cube game even though I needed a few hours to even understand what was going on). I had no idea this was the only time I would get to spend with just Luke. I had no idea it was the last time I would get to see him at all. I've been thinking since yesterday, how do we let go? How can we let go? So many of us feel like Luke belonged to us. He was in our church family, our community, our friendships, our hearts. But he didn't belong to us. He belonged to our Savior and our God has him now, as we know. We are just left here wondering how the rest of life looks without his sweet and generous gestures and that famous Luke grin. Just before I actually started working that day in July, Luke, along with Sam, Laura and Mark Burley, watched a video that had just been released by Macklemore: Glorious. The video (even though a part of it made Luke blush a little) was an amazing tribute to the singer's grandmother and the song will always remind me of you, Luke Granger, standing now in the presence of GLORY! Love you Luke! Holly
2 Comments
Carol wolfe
9/10/2017 02:06:25 pm
Each time I read one of these tributes about Luke not only do I cry I learn a little bit more about his heart and why people loved him so much. What a beautiful ode to an amazing young man
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Renee Cloutier
9/11/2017 04:06:52 pm
Thanks Holly-so beautifully written.
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