Is There Life After Death? The Banana Bread Proof.

Is there an afterlife that resembles, in any way, the images of heaven many of the major world religions have painted for us? I don't know and it really is not all that important to me.

It will be a wonderful surprise if utopia awaits and all of my friends and family who died before me are waiting to greet me the day I pass to the other side. In the meantime, I have chosen to live the best life I know how to live in the here and now.

But, most of us still can't help but wonder what happens to us after we die. Like I said, I don't know if a "formal heaven" awaits, but I do know that those of us who live full lives don't just disappear. I have proof.

There are plenty who are probably skeptical of this declaration of alleged proof, but here it is.

My maternal grandmother died almost three years ago and I still think of her every day. A part of her is still living within me, my sisters, my mom and other members of our family. All of the good parts of her, as well as her imperfections...she is not gone.

Still skeptical? One of the most common gifts my grandmother would give was banana bread. She would give banana breads to different members of the family (sometimes me), bring loaves to family gatherings and give loaves to neighbors as thank you gifts.

Banana bread fit her perfectly. As a young woman of The Depression, a yummy treat created by not wasting something that has gone bad (overripe bananas) fit her approach to life like a glove.

So how do I know that we do continue to live after we die?

Since my grandmother died, I have yet to make it through a banana bread baking session of my own without a few laughs, a few tears and thankfulness that my grandmother helped to teach me how to bake.