Saying Good-bye

After the funeral services people gathered at the cemetery for my Grandmother's burial. Pictured here are some of the people standing graveside, and the buggy in which she had her final ride.

 

Photo credit: Mark Earnest Burr  Used by permission.

 

Before long a plain headstone will be placed by her grave as the only reminder of who she was and the life she lived. Generations to come, and visitors to the cemetery will walk by, read the inscription, and not know what a great woman she was. She lived a quiet life, one that people soon forget. One that I want to always remember, and want my children and grandchildren to know.

Born in the early the early 1920's my grandmother never had an easy life. She got married young, her life did not get easier because of it. Through it all though she was the picture of everything a woman should be. She was patient, kind, and gentle. She endured things no one should ever have to endure, but she never complained, or had bad things to say about anyone.

She was a widow for over twenty-five years. Having been left penniless she made ends meet by quilting. She was the queen of making do with what she had and finding uses for everything. Her trashcan was more of a decorative item in her house than something that had a use because she didn't throw anything away.

She had joy in her life. Deep joy. The kind that even when you would think she had every right to feel sorry for herself, or be sad, her joy radiated through all that.

So though we say good-bye to her now. I want to pass her legacy of joy on and hope that future generations will experience it too.