Give Her the Reward She Has Earned

For a little over a week now, I have attempted to write this post, and every time the lump in my throat would overrule my ability to type out my thoughts.

For the first time in my life, I am a girl without one of my two Grandmothers. On March 6, my Grandma Thelma Horn, died.

Grandma Horn has suffered for a long time with Alzheimer's, and in the last year, had become very confused about who I was. It became harder and harder to visit her, because she didn't know me from the lady who emptied her trash can.

We have known for a few months, her time on this earth was getting shorter and shorter, but what I didn't know was how hard it would be miss her.

There is a certain "peace" about having those who have known you all your life, around. Now she is gone, and as the days pass by, I find myself needing to grieve her passing.

I was blessed to spend much of her last two days on earth, with our family, by her side. We sang 'How Great Thou Art' and countless other old songs we found in her homemade song book. We sat around and browsed through her Recipe Book, and remembered all the delicious things that came out of her kitchen! We cried and prayed, and held her hand...assuring her that she was free to go home.

After her passing, we became busy with funeral plans. Practicing songs we would sing, and going to the funeral home to see how pretty and peaceful she looked, kept my mind occupied. Her funeral was beautiful...just as she would have wanted it, and the family reunion that occurs at events such as these, was good.

Then it was over. Her earthly body is resting out in a crowded country cemetery, while her spirit is with her Savior.

And I woke up the next day, acutely aware that I only have one Grandmother left on this earth.

I wouldn't call Grandma Horn back here (as if I could) for anything! She is not a diabetic anymore. She is not an Alzheimer's patient or a stroke victim anymore. Her ruptured disk in her back is no longer causing her excruciating pain. She can hear. She can laugh and smile. She can sit at Jesus' feet. (I'm jealous!)

So, I am here, left with a boat-load of good memories, and a desire to never forget all the positive things I learned from her. I am left with her example, and a desire to carry on what she started. I am left with her recipes, and a desire to make her Lemon Drizzle Cake...the best in the west!

Just a few of the things Grandma taught me:

How to roll out and cut biscuits

How to make an apple pie

How to dust first and then vacuum

How to brush my hair 100 times every night (I don't do that anymore)

How to scare the hens off their nests, so I could get to their eggs (I don't like chickens!!)

How to milk a cow (never as fast as her)

How to tie the cow's tail back, so she wouldn't smack me with it, while we were milking her

How to pick vegetables out of the garden at the right time

How to draw a cat

How to snap beans

And much more....

Proverbs 31:31 states, "Give her the reward she has earned, and let her good works bring her praise at the city gates."

I miss her, but her legacy of love and faith will live on in me, and I will pass it on to my children.

(In the picture above, Grandma is letting me help her open her Mother's Day gift. I can remember that she got new gold drinking glasses. I think I was about three years old)