Saying goodbye from far away is hard. Especially when you can't really "say" goodbye…only begin to process the loss of someone you love.
We have been planning our summer vacation for the past month. The kids have begged all year to go back to TN to see Grammy Honey and play in her 20 acre wood. They have sweet memories and were thrilled when we announced that we would camp our way there this summer. We are all having a difficult time imagining TN without her.
Of course, my own memories of Grammy Honey go back to my childhood. One day soon, I will sit and write them all out. They are rattling around in my brain for now. But, over the past 8 years, many memories have been made that include my own kids. Grammy Honey loved children. She loved spoiling them and feeding them pancakes. She loved that they loved her dogs and her kitty and her room full of stuffed creatures. She loved watching them play at the children's museum and splash in the fountains. She insisted on taking them out for Clumpie's ice cream and took EJ on his first carousel ride. She loved walking with them all over her property, always looking for branches to drag to the burn pile. She climbed stairs to outfit the kids from her dress up closet. Yup, a whole walk-in closet devoted to dress up clothes…many of which had adorned her own spunky self on one occasion or another! There were african safari hats to be worn, hand-painted parasols from china to be toted, and an array of other fancies to be tried on. She even trekked, practically crawled, through the cobwebs, dust, and long corridors of the attic to retrieve boxes of toys. If I hadn't been intent on catching her if she stumbled, I would have been totally paralyzed by the number of spiders. She was determined!
Grammy Honey will be missed by many. We all were blessed to have a relationship with this feisty, generous, and adventurous woman. She saw much of the world, made her way into hearts all around the world, and left the world a sweeter place.
She loved the Lord her God with all her heart, mind, and soul. What comfort to know that she is in His presence and free of pain..ready to begin her most exciting adventure yet! Thank you, Jesus, for your grace that gives us unshakable hope.
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| Emerson's dedication 2006 |
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| Spring 2007 in TN |
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| first pancake |
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| Summer 2007 |
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| EJ's first Clumpie's |
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| branch hauling...putting my hubby to work |
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| CO visit 2008...meeting Clara |
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| four generations |
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| Grammy Honey's visit to CO in 2009 |
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| patty cake with Clara |
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| Clumpie's ice cream Spring 2011 |
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| so playful |
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| carousel |
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| she was truly beautiful |
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walking the river trail to the veteran's memorial.
She liked that Tilly was precocious and independent... |
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| Summer 2013 |
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| She met Oliver for the first and only time last summer |
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| I often caught her beaming smile from a nearby bench as she watched the kids play |
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| walker/stroller? |
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| And...another carousel adventure...Ollie's first |
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| watching them play in the fountains |
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| her escort into Clumpie's |
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| 2 beauties |
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The kids fed the ducks...or chased them...
Then the rain came down! She loved every second. |
It is Well
(Her favorite Hymn)
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!—
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!
And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
