SAYING GOOD-BYE

Earlier today my sweet Grandmother passed away -with my dad right by her side.

A couple days ago, when we knew her passing would be imminent, I pulled some of my favorite pics of her-partly to reminisce, and partly so I could celebrate her life here on my blog.

The pic above is from this summer. Grandmother has always been frail, but in these last few years, she's been especially sickly...she really couldn't get in and out of chairs easily. We were at my aunt's house visiting and Becca stopped her playing, crawled up into Grandmother's chair, and gave her a snuggle. how it must have warmed my grandmother's heart -because it certainly did mine.

If there was one word that would characterize my grandmother-it would be FAMILY. Her family was the most important thing to her. She loved us dearly. She would have done anything for us. I know us grandkids, but even more so, her great-grandkids, brought her so much joy.

me, Andrew, and Grandmother at my cousin's wedding in Feb. '04.

this must be one of my all-time favorite photos of my grandmother. Rebecca is about 2 months old-you can see in her face just how much my grandmother adored holding her great-grandkids

Because Grandmother was frail, she really couldn't get down on the floor and play with the kids -but she LOVED to have them crawl up in her lap and she could read to them. The kids instinctively knew that was Grandmother's "job" and so they would sit and snuggle with her for what seemed like hours.

Grandmother would always snuggle the kids and give them kisses and say "now remember, Grandmother loves you".

This is the last photo we have of our whole family with her. We hadn't had Elizabeth very long and at that time, she was still pretty wary of new people...but I remember she wasn't hesitant with Grandmother at all....almost like she just knew this woman was OK and loved her.


I remember being little and sleeping at her house when we'd visit. I remember, if I was having trouble sleeping, she'd come in and sit by me, and rub my back until I fell asleep.

I remember her always scolding my grandad with "now Floyd!" :)

I remember her making the most fabulous food -from scratch...my grandad had an incredible garden -so she would can much of the bounty and then use it in her cooking. Fresh green beans (my all-time favorite!), boysenberries...mmmmyum! she would make boysenberry pie -homemade pie crust -fresh boysenberries. oh goodness!

I remember her doing crossword puzzles up until just a few years ago-to keep her mind sharp (she had to stop when she couldn't see as well).

I remember she really would only watch news shows. She always knew what was going on in the world!

She was a STAUNCH Republican. I mean -to the core! :) Luckily, we are all Republicans too (don't hate me if you're not!) so we never feared discussing politics with her. :)

She was a worrier. I remember, as a kid, when we'd drive home, my dad would have to call her soon after walking in the door to let her know we were home safe and sound. :)

I remember her making up Treasure Hunts for my cousins and I to keep us busy!

Whenever we'd leave her house, she'd not only walk us to the door, or even to the car, she'd stand in her driveway and wave to us until we were out of sight.

When she'd tell us she loved us, she'd say:
I love you a bushel and a peck, and a hug around the neck.~I'll never forget that saying.

She was such a strong woman. My grand-dad was a "lifer" in the US Navy. Back when he was deployed on the ships, he'd be gone for months, years at a time. She'd get mail every once in awhile from him, but it's not like now where the guys get to call home or email regularly. She was a single mom alot of the time. In fact, my grand-dad was there for my aunt's birth, and either shipped out that night or the next day -and wasn't able to get home for 2 years I think it was.

She was an amazing woman, wife, mom, grandmother, and great-grandmother...and she will be missed more than she'll ever know.

Grandmother-I love you a bushel and a peck, and a hug around the neck.