Grandma Walker's Funeral

We headed to Burley for Grandma Walker's Funeral.  We stayed at a hotel where this machine took a lot of our money. 

 But Rusty won his sister a bear.

And a bunch for my kids. 

It was a beautiful service. 

We drove by Art's old house.

 

Here is the Tribute that I wrote and read for Grandma Walker and the Poem I wrote later. 

Today while driving Sidekick 1 asked me this question, "Why is God taking all of our people right now?"  I didn't know how to answer her.  It made me feel very sad.  I don't like posting all things gloom and doom but it has been a very rough month at our house.  We are currently in the process of sending one more very lovely lady to Heaven.  It's hard not to ask why God is taking all of our people right now.  It's hard not wonder if there is something that I have done wrong.  It is hard not to question my own strength.  It is even more difficult to watch the ones still here with me grieving and struggling.  The hardest part..is watching others suffer and not being able to help them.

I am personally thankful for all of the time I have been able to spend.  All of the lessons I have been able to learn.  Thankful for the memories, the stories and the time.  The greatest of generations is moving on.  What lessons can we take with us? What can we learn from them to make a better tomorrow?

I just keep thinking of my time spent, and I am so thankful that I spent time with loved ones, eyes open, heart open, and embracing the moments.

This grandma of mine has come to me through marriage.  She is the one and only that I got to meet in my time as a Boxall.  She has brought so much into my life and I feel blessed to call her mine.  She is a woman of grace.  A woman of class.  She is the woman who when I was young I would have looked up to in awe. I still look up to her in awe and hope that some day I can have just a smidgen of her in me.

She was always presentable. She woke each morning and dressed in fashionable clothes.  She kept up with times and ensured she dressed it.  She always had jewelry on and most often a scarf.  Nice shoes and perfectly curled hair. If you really paid attention you could smell her fragrance, always clean, always floral.  Her nails and hair were done weekly and it showed.  She was beautiful, stunning, a woman through and through. Even my sidekick could see it.

She had presence and beauty.  She stood and walked tall.  When she entered a room you saw her.  Beauty and grace.

I loved sitting with her.  She loved having the kids come to her place.  She always complained that it was too small, and she wanted more room. What she would do with more room, I have no idea, but she always wanted it.  I think it was because she was accustomed to things and liked them that way.

She loved having the kids come and play.  She loved to hear their chatter.  She always thought they were the smartest and "so advanced" for their age.  She loved watching them dance and play.  I love how proud she was of my children.  My children were proud of her too.  They love her.  They loved to visit and spend time in her tiny place.  They loved drawing her pictures on post-it's.  You would think grandma thought they belonged in a museum the praise she gave them.  I am surprised they didn't end up on her wall.  She had a talent for displaying items as art.

An example...In her room there was displayed a cow bell.  I loved having her tell this story because she would laugh the whole way through. On the night of her wedding their friends took them out for night.  They lived in Yuma, AZ so they were close to the border in Mexico.  They spent much of the night across the border.  She said she danced and had fun but her husband was anxious to get home.  She too, but in her story it was always her husband who was begging to go.  They were kept out the entire night by friends.  She said when they got back home to bed the next morning they laid in bed and found themselves itching.  Their friends had put some powder in the bed that made them itch, so they decided to turn the mattress over.  Upon turning over the mattress they found a cowbell had been securely fastened to the springs in their bed.  She goes on to tell how difficult it was for her husband to get the cowbell off of the bed because it was wired on tight.  She laughs and laughs.  Hanging in her room still to the day is the cowbell and the memory of the wedding night to the love of her life.  I love that sass, that charm.

As fancy as she was she always knew how to enjoy a party.  She loved her Chardonnay.  She also loved beautiful old music. She was funny.  She would make jokes and razz people.  She always made me laugh.  One night when we went to visit and sat to have a talk, she tapped the top of her knees and said, "It's a girl party, now what should we ladies talk about."

She had a beautiful home surrounded in my favorite things...real leather bound books.  They were so beautiful and she was so proud of them.  This is just one way we were kindred spirits.  I spent a lot of time with her one week when I went up to check in on her when her daughter was on vacation and we talked about those books in length.  She showed me her favorite and even offered for me to borrow them.  That was a sure sign of trust.  I didn't, as I knew the love she had for them, but the honor I felt that she would have let me take one of her precious books was something I will never forget.  She told me so many stories that week. I wish I would have written them all down but I was too busy laughing.

She was a top realtor in the state of Idaho.  She worked hard and was really good at her job.  She loved it and wasn't ready to retire. Her business sense, her understanding of people, and her work ethic made her successful.  She truly listens and watches.  I can't remember a time that she ever interrupted me when I was speaking. This is a talent and something totally genuine about her.  I would guess that her skills in this area led to her success.  That and her honesty.

She adventured in life.  She is the adventurer in pearls.  She traveled with her husband, she spent time with her family. My husband spent a lot of time with her in his youth and I am thankful for her influence on him.

She is quite the competitor though too.  I saw this in her stories, in the way she lived her life, and in the way she related to others.  She always wanted to "give" the best.  She didn't realize that she already did.  She gave me my mother-in-law.  She gave me my husband.  Through them my children, one of which is named after her.  Really maybe they both are.  The way she lived her life and her last name.

I am so thankful for her example.  She showed me that I can be bold and beautiful.  Smart and humble.  Kind to others but care for oneself.  I want to be just like her when I am older.  Lucky for me I have my Mother-In-Law.  A lady rich in class and kindness.  One that I am so blessed to have and lucky to learn from.

So to all you classy ol' broads.  I know the best!  Take a lesson.

Today we are sending a great lady off on her final adventure.  We are sure going to miss her around here. 

Great Adventures

She closed her eyes, then closed her book, the smell of leather to be found
She placed the book upon her lap, then opened her eyes and looked around
Upon the walls were tales as great as those that she’d just read
She looked to those, and began to dream, her own adventures, instead

A young mom stood there, with five small boys and her precious little girl
She’d run and play, and dress them up, those kids were her whole world
As they grew up, she did too, but never in her heart
The girl inside who was hip and fun, would always have a part

She took to the road with her love of homes and she sold quite a lot
An award one year, this social gal, for selling is what she got
Her success it came from her hard work and her people listening skills
Never interrupt, always show up, listen and close all deals

Then travelling came, across the land with the love of her life
Hand in hand they changed the world, Sparky and his wife
They often took their family too, to visit far or near
The memories that those young boys have will always be held dear

Legends and sagas and comedies too, they’re filling up the walls
To cowbell tales, or peeing men, two birds, she knows them all
Her jewelry all has stories and those pictures of her kids
And the music on the stereo, all the dancing that she did

She nursed with love and never gave up on challenges when they came
She learned from them, and shared her love, and left none to be the same
She truly loved her family, and everyone would say
They knew she cared and was proud of them, each and every day

This lady you could count on, no matter what the task
She’d show up looking lovely, you only had to ask
But you could visit her and never would you find
Her not ready for the day, she was not that kind

With wine in hand she’d appear and every head would turn
To listen to her stories, a new adventure they would learn
And all would laugh as she start to speak and gracefully would tell
Her memory strong, she’d not forget any small detail

She was funny too and played her part in pranking all their friends
Her adventures going all day and night, the laughing wouldn’t end
Those things she passed down to her kids, a piece each here and there
Especially to her daughter, I’m blessed her name to share

She was beautiful and stunning, her adventures they were great
But most of all she was proud of the family and life she made
Her legacy is strong, and she loves them every one
And in their hearts she will live on, her spirit isn’t done

So here we sit all mopey sad, missing this lady great
With SL She’s off adventuring, their trip just couldn’t wait
We’ll wait to hear the stories, this adventure about to begin
I know in my heart, the stories she’ll share, when we see her again