Rosa sat under the big apple tree. Tears streamed down her cheeks and her whole body shook as she sobbed. As she looked up through the tree's leafy branches, she remembered how she and Grandpa used to watch squirrels run across the boughs.

She thought about all the fun they had under that big tree. That's where grandpa taught her how to tie her shoes and told her stories about when he was a boy. Grandpa had made a swing for Rosa and hung it from a branch of that big apple tree. Oh, how she loved it when grandpa pushed her in the swing and whistled Pop Goes the Weasel.

Grandpa and Rosa had plans of making a tree house this summer since Rosa was bigger, but she knew that now they never would. All those plans would never come to pass because today Rosa went to Grandpa's funeral.

Rosa had never been to a funeral before. Everyone there was dressed in their best clothes, and the room was full of flowers. Rosa noticed the smell of all the flowers when she arrived. People spoke softly. They all talked about what a good man grandpa was.

A preacher talked to the people about Grandpa. He said that Grandpas was in heaven with Jesus now and he was happy. Rosa didn't understand. No one else was happy. Almost everyone there was crying. She even saw a tear in her dad's eye, and she had never seen him cry before.

There were a lot of things Rosa didn't understand. Now she sat alone under the big apple tree that she and Grandpa loved so much. She knew he would not sit there with her again and it made her hurt inside.

Dad walked across the green grass and sat down next to Rosa. As Dad looked up, he said "Grandpa really loved this old tree. I remember when Grandpa first planted it here. He took such good care of it. He watered it and gave it plant food. He even wrapped canvas around it in the cold weather. It wasn't long before this old tree grew big, with all these branches and green leaves. I can remember the first apple I ever ate from this tree. It was the best apple I ever ate."

That made Rosa smile a little, because she remembered Grandpa say how he remembered the first apple he had from the tree. He said it was the best apple he had ever eaten. Rosa's smile quickly faded as more tears streamed down her face.

Dad put his arm around Rosa. "When I was a boy," he said, "in the fall when the leaves began to fall from the tree, I was afraid they'd never grow again. I thought I might never have another apple from this tree. In the winter when I'd see the bare lifeless branches, it made me sad. Grandpa would tell me not to worry because it was like the big apple tree was just taking a winter nap. He said it worked hard all year to provide us with apples and now it was taking a rest. He said even though the branches seemed barren, the part of the tree I couldn't see way down deep inside was well and strong and it would bring forth buds again. He was right. Every

year in the spring I'd start to see those blossoms, and it made me so happy."

Rosa looked at Dad and said, "I wish Grandpa would be here next spring to see the blossoms."

Dad smiled at Rosa and nodded. "I miss Grandpa too, but he's in heaven now and I know he's happy."

"How can he be in heaven?" Rosa asked. I saw him at the funeral. She looked like he was sleeping. I wanted to wake him up."

Dad looked up through the branches of the apple tree. "You know Rosa," he said, "people are a lot like this old apple tree. Just like Grandpa said this tree worked hard all year to produce apples and then it took a rest in the winter. That's the way Grandpa was. He spent his life serving Jesus and looking out for us, and now it's like he took a winter rest."

Rosa was confused. She said, "But he won't come back in the spring like the blossoms."

Dad nodded. "That's right Rosa. He won't blossom here again. Just like this tree goes to sleep in the fall and wakes up in the spring, Grandpa went to sleep here and woke up in heaven. Remember Grandpa said in the winter when we see the bare branches not to worry because the tree is well and strong down deep inside? Down deep inside people have a soul. That's a part of us that never dies. When we were at the funeral, that was like seeing the bare branches on the tree. Grandpa's soul, the part that's down deep inside that we can't see, is already in heaven with Jesus. You remember how much Grandpa loved Jesus, don't you?"

Rosa nodded. She remembered how Grandpa talked to her about Jesus to her under the apple tree.

"Heaven is a wonderful place," Dad said. “The streets are made of gold, and each gate is made of a big pearl. There's no sickness or sadness there. There's something there I know Grandpa really likes. There is a tree with twelve kinds of fruit on it. If we love Jesus like Grandpa did, someday we can go to heaven and be with Jesus and Grandpa."

Rosa smiled. She knew that she would miss Grandpa, but was glad someday she would see him again. She looked forward to the day she'd be in heaven and sit with grandpa under the tree with twelve kinds of fruit on it and never be separated from him again.