Grandma 93

A couple weeks ago Huz's grandmother passed away. She was a darling woman, tiny and feisty. She had a million stories to tell from her long life and loved to share them to anyone who would listen. Like when she was in nursing school, they used to lock the girls inside their dorms at night to 'keep them out of trouble' until one of the dorms caught fire and they realized that was about the stupidest thing they could have done. Or how her first home cost something like $400. She also said some pretty hysterical things without even knowing how funny she was:) (for example telling the German friends who were visiting that the Indians called corn maize...) She was just barely starting to get gray hair (wouldn't you love to have those genes?!) and just barely stopped driving! She was pretty amazing. We were fortunate enough to spend a lot of time with her over the years and our kids really miss her. BoyOne grew especially attached to Grandma Tingey, or Grandma 93 as he called her (in reference to her age. Tingey was too hard for him to say). I'm glad that they had the chance to get to know her and that a few of them are old enough to be able to remember her.

me and grandma a couple years ago

BoyOne after the funeral at the cemetery. The boys are super scared of dead people and of cemeteries and death in general. Not exactly sure what they do in Ukraine, but it doesn't stir any happy memories or even positive thoughts. I was glad for the boys to have this experience because while we mourn for our loss over the death of a loved one, we have the knowledge that we will live again. We believe that we will be blessed with the opportunity to be with Heavenly Father and Jesus (as long as we don't really screw up here on earth) and that family ties are eternal. The boys had never seen anything like the funeral service before (duh) and I think it helped them. Now every time we pass a cemetery they ask if it is where Grandma 93 is...

One at the casket. I know some people don't like funeral pictures, but I like being able to look back. People tend to come together and that is a beautiful thing to see. I loved watching Huz visit with cousins he hasn't seen in months or, in some cases, years. I loved telling the kids how everyone was related and thought it was funny that they found it amusing that we have cousins, like we're way too old for that or something:) Family is a such a blessing.

We miss you Grandma Tingey.