My Grandma...

Today is the year anniversary of my little Grandma's death. It doesn't seem like a year has gone by, but it has all too quickly. As most people do when they lose a loved one, I still miss her terribly each day. I see how my boys love their Grandma's and I remember the special love and relationship I had with mine. She was really something and had been through and seen so much in her long 82+ years. She was truly a woman of God and her example has often been reason enough for me to stop and think "What would Grandma do?" I loved that little lady so very much and wish more than anything that I had been able to spend more time with her these last few years since I got married...but as with anything...life gets in the way and time gets by us and then it's gone.

On this day last year, Mark and the boys and I were going down to see her in the hospital in Johnson City. On the way, we stopped at Wal-Mart so I could pick up a few things and get her a "Get Well" card. I picked out a really cute and funny one to cheer her up. Little did I know at the time, that those few minutes it took me to do that kept me from seeing her before she was no longer responsive to us anymore. By the time we got to the hospital, she had already coded once...I had talked to her on the phone the day before, though...but I would have loved to have been able to have talked to her in person just one last time.

I know that she loved me and that she loved Mark and our two boys. She loved each and every member of her family with extreem conviction. She wanted to know that we all had close relationships with the Lord and she always wanted to know how we were in our relationships with one another. She always offered encouragement and hope when we were down. She prayed for us daily and more often if something was going on in our lives. I always joked with her (because she had the most beautiful wrinkle-free skin) that I would love to inherit her genes to have her skin as I got older! But, what I would most love to inherit from her is that beautiful sweet spirit of hers and the ability to not anger easily...to not judge too quickly, and to remember that everything CAN be made better through prayer and a closer walk with God.

I love and miss you Grandma, but I know that you are sooooo very happy up there in Heaven and one day, (whether it be sooner or later) we will all get to see you again!

Oh!!! and P.s..........Grandma LOVED the song by Kenny Chesney "She thinks my Tractor is Sexy", so HOPEFULLY, it is playing for you in the background!!! It's toooo cute to imagine her singing that, but she would, and her eyes would light up and she'd get a little silly smile on her face!!! Kenny Chesney and the Gaither Band were a couple of her favorites! What a combo!