7.19.10

Yesterday was a hard day for our family. We lost my grandma, Mary Howard.

Even as I type this it doesn't seem quite real, and the word "lost" seems so incomplete and superficial. My childhood is flooded with memories of swimming at the lake, riding the boat , playing dominoes, bowling, and eating our "arthritis medicine" (a.k.a. ice cream) with my grandparents.

My parents would drop me and my sister, Jessica, off to spend the weekend with my grandparents, and we knew we were in for some fun. My grandparents liked routines (to put it mildly).

Every morning, grandma served us cereal and toast (cut diagonally) with lots of butter. We fished in the morning and went to Shoney's :) for lunch. In the afternoon, we went bowling on post, and then went home to ride the boat (which I would undoubtedly fall asleep, so my grandma would give me a blanket BEFORE I got on the boat). We finished up the day with our "arthritis medicine" and got ready to do it all again the next day.

At the end of our trip, my grandparents would slip us a few dollars and say, "Maybe this is enough to keep you away for a while!" :)

They would stand in the driveway and holler, "Thanks for having us!" as we drove away.

For years, we would spend new years eve at their house. Jessica and I talked about how we were going to stay up ALL NIGHT and "party" at midnight. Without fail, Jessica and I would fall asleep on the couch and grandma would wake us up a few minutes before midnight. We would blow our horns and wave our American flags, and then fall back asleep within minutes!

Sweet memories...

Yesterday was a rough day, but there was such comfort in knowing that she was feeling no more pain and that she was met in heaven by Jesus and my sweet grandpa that passed away 2 1/2 years ago. She has missed him so much....after 50 years of marriage, her heart ached daily for her best friend.

What a beautiful thought of them holding hands again on the streets of gold.