My Grandma left us and joined my Grandpa in Heaven early in the morning on Tuesday, January 12, 2010. It has been a week and it is still so hard to believe that she is gone. We were fortunate to see her last Monday night and I know she knew we were with her. She continued to save her strength for the little ones. As a granddaughter, I am so lucky that her love for my family and me was evident right up to the very end. The last words that I heard my Grandma speak were, "Hi, Baby Girl!" when I sat Claranna next to her in the hospital bed. And, somehow she managed to blow frail goodbye kisses to James as we were leaving her room last Saturday afternoon. Ella wasn't able to be at the hospital with us on Saturday, so Grandma seemed to hold her eyes on Ella a bit longer on Sunday. And, at Ella's request, she had a few private moments with her great grandma on Monday evening to say goodbye.
It was not easy to see my spunky Grandma so near her end. She had been such a strong woman her whole life. Though as hard as it was, it helped all of us, big and small, to understand her body was just too tired to stay on this earth any longer. We celebrated her life on Thursday with a visitation and on Friday with a service at the tiny little church where she was a life long member. At the start of the service, each grandchild and great-grandchild rang the church bell one time to honor the life of a wonderful and caring grandma. Following the service, we left the church yard with the bell tolling freely and drove in procession to the little cemetery right next to my family's farm. My grandma was laid to rest next to her parents and her beloved husband.
My grandparents were married for 65 years before my Grandpa Bob passed in April of 2000. Together my grandparents created quite a legacy and showed us how a life could be built and a marriage could thrive with faith, hard work, love and a promise. I am so lucky to have had four of the very best grandparents to guide me through my life.
We have had many tough conversations with the kids during the last week and a half. There have been tears and questions, but also smiles and sweet memories. Isabella and James promise that they will tell Claranna all about their Grandma Ruth when she grows up as Claranna sadly won't have her own memories of Grandma Ruth. We will also tell Claranna of the love she showed for Grandma Ruth in the way that she smiled and excitedly flapped her baby arms and tried to touch her great grandma whenever we were near her. One day we hope Claranna will treasure the picture posted above showing her tiny little hand resting gently on her great grandma's hand--a picture showing 96 years of a life well lived and a little life just beginning.
In my earliest childhood memories, I can see my grandma looking much the same then as she has in these past few years. Sure, she wasn’t as steady on her feet or with her hands as she used to be, but in most ways she has remained the same for as long as I can remember. And walking up those three steps into Grandma’s house was the same for me as it became for my children. Grandma was often in her kitchen or working on a project of some sort, there was always a cookie in the cookie jar or in the cupboard, there were fun toys, and there were lots of Grandma’s hugs and squeezes for the little ones.
We are so lucky to have had Grandma as such a constant in our lives, seemingly unchanged by the touch of time. This past week, as I couldn’t help but sift through my memories of my grandma, I was often smiling through my tears and counting my blessings.
How many kids get to live so close to their grandma and grandpa? How many great grandchildren get to know their great grandma so well? How my children get to have their mother just steps away for over seventy years. We are blessed.
Blessed to have a grandma who loved all of us, from the oldest to the youngest ones.
Blessed to have a grandma to teach us and guide us with her little bits of wisdom on gardening, cooking and life in general.
Blessed to have a grandma to give us a little scolding and straighten us out every now and then.
Blessed to have a grandma who would tell on me when she looked up the hill and noticed my bedroom light on when I should have been sleeping but was staying up too late reading.
Blessed to have a grandma who sometimes provided an accurate definition of the word stubborn, who taught us the value of hard work, and who showed us her love in all her actions.
And, blessed to have a grandma who in her last days saved her strength to give just one more tender touch or squeeze to her little babies.
It is never going to be the same without Grandma. Though she is gone from this earth, her words and wisdom will echo in our hearts everyday of our lives until we see her and Grandpa again in heaven. So, we can smile through our tears when we think of her and know that we were so very blessed by her presence in our lives.
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