My grandmother was 92 years old when she passed away Wednesday. She was one of the strongest women that I have ever known in my life. She ensured that each and every person she knew felt loved and cared for even when that was hard to do. When my grandfather died 28 years ago, she told me sitting at the kitchen table that she did not want to live on without him. She could not imagine a life without him in it. Their love was a strong traditional county kind of love that you really don’t see that often anymore. We spent a lot of time at grandmas house when we were young. Many summers spent picking apricots and sitting on the porch in the hot summer air. We loved every minute of it. A day there and the bathtub would have a distinct ring from all of the dirt you got on you during the day. It was wonderful.

Late in life my grandmother had to learn to do things for herself. Things that my grandfather took care of became her responsibility after he passed. She didn’t know how to put gas in the car, start the mower or any of the other tasks that he took care of. She learned, she adapted and she became a much stronger person. She got up every morning when most of us are still asleep and hoed the garden before it was too hot. She watered her roses because she loved them and they loved her as evident by the flawless giant buds that opened to her as if making a grand entrance. She took pride in everything she did.

When she hurt her back and could not stand all of the way up, we had to move her from the little town she lived in to one of the busiest town in Texas to live with my parents. There were a lot of adjustments that she had to make but she did it with a smile and never let anyone know that it killed her inside. A few years ago she fell and broke her hip while my parents were on a cruise. We went up and stayed with her at the hospital until they came home and while sitting in the room, had some of the greatest conversations with her that we had in years. I remembered then how funny she was, how much I loved her insight and opinion on the world and the people in it, and how much she cared about us all. And even though she was in pain, I know she enjoyed that time too.

For the rest of my life, everytime I see bread and jam, bannana pudding or pecan pie, I will think of my grandmother and the wonderful times spent sitting around her kitchen table. Treasured memories that I would not trade for anything. She was such an important part of all of our lives that her influence will live on in the way we see things, the way we do things and they way we feel. She will truly be missed but I am so glad to have had 44 years with her. I know she is better off, at peace and finally free from the frail body she called home for so long. Her spirit is free to roam and enjoy the reunion with those that have passed before her.