Favorite Photo Friday

Joe's sister w/Grandma

Atlanta, GA April 2010

Sorry for the absence . . . had to take off for Iowa to attend a funeral for Joe's 91 year old Grandmother who passed last weekend. This sweet woman was the mother of 6, a hard working Iowa corn farmer, a gardener, and quite the matriarch. With 6 kids of her own, the legacy she left included 16 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. What a lady.

I met Grandma in August 2002, after Joe and I had been dating nearly a year, and he invited me to attend his family reunion. The thing I remember most about meeting her was not how welcoming she was to me, the potential new family member . . . but that she was drinking a beer. At 82 years old. I thought Joe had one cool grandma.

She was very independent, living on her own until her time came. She traveled here for Joe's sister's wedding just 6 weeks ago . . . which was, as it turns out, was a wonderful thing for everyone. We all had a chance to spend time with her. We didn't know it would be our last time, but, as it turns out, it was a great opportunity.

Grandma had a stroke last week, and she passed about 2 days later, with all of her children there to say goodbye. She had a very peaceful passing. Those in the room actually did not know she had slipped away until someone noticed that Grandma was no longer breathing. I believe all of her kids were glad that the event was so calm and simple.

Grandma lived a great life. As Joe's aunt said at the funeral: Grandma lived until she died.

Now we are back home, getting ready for a nice weekend. It was a long week, but everything went on without any problems or hang ups. Just as Grandma would have liked it.