She was born in 1921. Married my grandfather in 1934. They raised seven kids - six boys. My dad is the second oldest. She was a housewife and mother. She had the biggest heart you'd ever hope to encounter. She lived her life with integrity and honesty and above all else LOVE. She imparted the importance of those things into her children. I was her first granddaughter. She taught me selflessness and the idea of family first by her actions. She was incredibly smart. My dad told me once that she was probably smarter than my grandfather was...who was an engineer and ran a big corporations and was an incredibly intelligent man in his own right. But she always wanted a big family. And my grandfather, an only child, happily complied and then proceeded to work to support his family and put seven kids through bachelor's degrees.
My youngest is her namesake. I have a cousin who is also named after her. She carried herself with grace and humor. Even when my grandfather died unexpectedly on one of their many international trips (he drown while snorkeling), she kept her humor when transporting his ashes home from Mexico. She carried them on the plane in a beautiful hand-carved box they gave her. When she got off the plane in Houston (I think), there was a porter there with a wheelchair. After she sat down, he asked her if she was traveling with anyone. Her response? "Yes, he's right here" and patted the box and promptly burst into tears. When she told us this story, she laughed through her tears. But that was the epitome of Granny. Her humor and love of family and life.
She traveled to see us where ever we were when I was a kid. She made it to American Samoa, Guam, North Dakota during the winter, and all the places in between. Because she wanted to see her grandkids. She made the effort because family was vital to her. When we were moving back to the states from Guam, my brother and I were sent ahead of my parents. She met us in San Francisco and we all flew back to Maryland together where my brother and I spent the summer.
The pain I feel at her loss is nothing compared to the pain I heard in my dad's voice this morning. My dad is not one to show emotion. My heart aches that she was the last of that generation in my family. Our family reunion won't be the same this summer. But my dad said this morning that one of my uncles said that they have to make sure to get a nice looking urn because she'd be coming to the reunion and we'd pass her around and tell silly stories. I love my family. She also demanded that no black be worn to my grandfather's funeral and we will do the same for her. We are going to celebrate this amazing woman and laugh and be together.
Her 90th birthday party - 2011
June 2011
Her and her four great-granddaughters.
Hershey, PA
Colorado
Maine
