Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Four Years

As I write, it will be four years ago tomorrow that our beloved Grandmother died.

I love these two photos. The first was, obviously, taken before the date of her death had been inscribed. I like the way it implies eternal life. A beginning point, but no end to this life. Only the end of a certain way of living.

The second photo is from her kitchen cabinet, where she kept her Bible and the Power for Today booklet, always rubber-banded together. I think it was to keep the pages of the Bible from being bent, though I never asked her.

Grandmother was a rare woman. I suppose lots of people say that about their grandmothers. But other people say it about mine, so I know it isn't only my bias, though that would be enough for me. She was beautiful, intelligent, down-to-earth, hospitable. She was a traveler, a lover of music, a loyal friend, an incredible cook, a lover of birds and gardening. She was a survivor and one who helped others through hard times.

She . . . . Well, I think over the next few blogs I’ll write about Grandmother, so those of you who never knew her can get to know her a little bit.

3 comments:

Lawrence Underwood said...

What a memory shaker this post is to me. I opened it yesterday in my hotel room and had to sit down and just 'be' for a while. We were certainly blessed by our dear Grandmother. There is rarely a day that goes by that I do not think of her, her wisdom, strength, little ways of doing things, and so on.

Sheila said...

Same here. I think sometimes it's only when a person leaves this life that we find out how deeply connected we are, because we realize that that person really has become a part of us.

Anonymous said...

There are so many things I never knew about both my grandmothers until I was an adult. My Grandma (that'd be my dad's mom) had a college degree in home economics and was going to teach. Well, she met this handsome fellow wearing an Air Force uniform, got married, and had three sons. One of those sons ended up becoming my dad. It was only in my early 30s that I grew to appreciate repeatitive conversations with her regarding how she met my granddad and the years she spent as an military wife. Now she doesn't remember those days so well.

A lot of things about my grandmother (my mom's mom) remain a mystery to me. I chuckle when I remember words about her not going to F-HU to marry a preacher boy and sure enough, that's exactly what she did. A few years ago, at her memorial service, I remember seeing a picture of her reminding me how proper she was. She was dressed in blue - litteraly from head to toe in her blue hat, dress, purse, and shoes.

Grandmothers are/were very wise women.