Family

My sisters and I lost our paternal Grandmother last week...which means we lost both of our grandmothers within the last 8 months.  I know we are fortunate to have had so many years with our grandmothers but it still feels strange to lose a generation of women in such a short period of time.  We have one remaining grandparent - our paternal Grandfather, her husband.  

Now that I am a working mother myself, I have an even greater appreciation for my grandmother.  She was truly Rosie the Riveter...she went to work during WWII wiring airplanes, while my grandfather was off on his ship, and worked until she retired.  She raised 5 kids in a 1 bathroom house, cooked 3 meals a day, and grew a garden and canned all of her vegetables until she wasn't able to do so any more. They loved to camp and travel...one of my most memorable childhood vacations was with her and my grandfather (and my family) driving to Yellowstone.

Michael and I went over to see her the weekend before she passed...she was already unresponsive but she showed signs that she heard us and knew everyone was there so we were glad we got to spend some time with her.  While it is very sad to let her go, I can't help but to think how amazing it is that she was surrounded by her husband of 68 years and 5 children around her bed for her final days and she was able to pass peacefully in her sleep in her home of over 50 years.   How blessed should we all be.  I pray for my grandfather as he navigates these days and months and hopefully years without her.

They had 8 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren....and most of us got to reconnect this past weekend at her funeral.  And Nate got to spend time with his favorite cousins - thank goodness there was a playground behind their little church to occupy the kids!  Thursday evening was the viewing and the kids did lots of playing that night...

This playground was a lifesaver for keeping the kids occupied...but I think I might have played on it when I was a kid, and it hadn't necessarily been "brought up to code"...Matthew managed to get his head stuck in between the wooden slats.  Thank goodness Michael was able to pry him out!

Friday was spent at the church for the funeral service - which my uncle did an amazing job as usual, he has such a gift for finding the right words - and then driving to the graveside service.  While we were in that area, my dad took us over to the house that my grandmother grew up in (I believe my great-grandfather built it in 1925)....some family members still own it and have been renovating it.  My dad told us stories about his memories being there as a kid. I wish we had taken pictures...there is something so intriguing and comforting about hearing and seeing where your roots are and knowing where you come from.

After all of that family time....Julie and her girls came back to our neck of the woods for the rest of the weekend.  So there was even more cousin time to be had!  Being with all of dad's family was a nice reminder to embrace your family and hold tight to those bonds.  I hope we can build that same closeness with our generation.

I think Nate and Rayne are off to a nice start!  Nate and Matthew were fighting over a toy or something and Rayne just couldn't take it...so once they settled their dispute she needed Nate to give her a hug.  So big cousin calmed her down.

And we played with rockets and bubbles and swings all afternoon.