Grandma

I have only met one 99 year old. It's my Grandma, Golden.

She will be 100 in October. As I am spending time at my parents' house I have had the chance to visit her.

I am leaving town in a few days and there is no guarantee that I will get to see her again, this side of heaven.

I found these wonderful pictures on my dad's computer, so I thought I would honor my amazing grandma and blog about her. I wonder if I'd be able to explain to her what blogging is....

That cute little boy is my dad. The older woman is my great-grandma.

This picture is the image I have in my head when I think of my grandma. I know she looks much older these days, but this is how I see her. I remember my grandpa calling for her..."Goldie!!"

When I think about my great-grandma who immigrated from England, without her parents at the turn of the century, I am amazed at her bravery. Then I consider my grandma who was a traveling preacher during a time when women ministers were not a commonality, I guess it's no wonder that my sister and I are not doing "normal" things in our lives.

Here is Grandma holding my older sister. Who would have known that she'd be a mother of a toddler and a baby while finishing her doctorate at Virginia Tech? It seems that driven women run in our family. I am grateful for the legacy she has left us. She is a strong, godly woman. Selfishly, I hope she lives to celebrate 100 years in October, but with a heart full of love and compassion for her I pray Jesus calls her home soon. We will loose much, but she will gain all that's really worth attaining.

Well done, you upright and faithful servant! You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little; I will put you in charge of much. Enter into and share the joy which your master enjoys.

Matthew 25:21

the stories behind the pictures

Aunt Jenni and Grace

Jacob and his cousin

Family trip to the zoo

G&I

Grandma with the kids


I wish the smiles told the whole story! The day at the zoo was great, but there has been a lot of ups and downs in the few days we've been home. I am recovering from some bizarre summer cold that vaporized my voice for over a week. I am choosing to believe it is a cold, not a God- ordained period of muteness. However, the mysterious inability to speak began the morning after I yelled at the neighbor kids. Hey, it had been a long day and I was trying to work peacefully, outside on the computer, when out of nowhere at 9:00 there were screaming pre-teens disturbing my solitude! (I have already taken time to apologize...but since I couldn't talk, I could only e-mail my apology..that made it less painful)
I have had two kids with fevers....which means we have unintentionally exposed most of our loved ones to our various sicknesses over these last days. I carried sick Jacob through the pouring July, yes, July rain so I could go to church.
I am hoping tomorrow the weather will be sunny and all of us will be well.
But if not, I know years from now I'll look at these zoo pictures with nostalgia and say to myself, "Wasn't that a wonderful time? Those really were the good old days.."