Goodbye Grandma Janice

June 2006

August 2007 July 2010

In the close of the last post, I mentioned that we all left Alabama early due to an unfortunate reason. My Grandmother who had been battling with Pancreatic Cancer for 2 years had passed away the day before and we were flying back to attend her memorial service.

Words will never be able to describe my Grandma and the love, memories and utmost respect that I have for her and will carry with me for the rest of my life. A verse in the bible found in Proverbs 31:28 says, "Her children arise and call her blessed..." This will always remind me of the legacy that she has left for me and my family.

She was a faithful woman of God, gracious, an amazing hostess, composed, and a true role model for me. I knew that when I picked up the phone to talk to her that it would be 2 hours before I'd put the phone back down. We'd talk for hours about food, gardening, the kids, exercise, and everything else in between.

After she was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer in June of 2008, the doctors told her that it was her "Death Ticket." With a smile on her face, she looked straight back at them and said, "I believe my God is bigger than you think." Her willingness to fight the most deadliest form of cancer was inspiring and spoke volumes to all of our family and also to the medical staff watching over her. Unfortunately, after 2 tough years of fighting, we watched the cancer rob her of her life.

After I received the phone call that she had went to be with Jesus, I closed my eyes and tried to imagine what she was doing at that very minute. As sad as I wanted to be and as hard as I wanted to cry, I knew she wasn't in pain anymore and that she was being welcomed into Heaven by her maker. The thing is... I could only imagine. That's it. As wonderful and I could imagine Heaven to be and meeting Jesus face to face will be... she was doing it! I remember driving down the Alabama side road smiling and saying out loud, "Praise the Lord!"

Her memorial service was just as she would have wanted it, with all of the family there and with beautiful flowers! It was hard saying goodbye but the strong foundation of faith that her and my Granddaddy had laid when they started this family, carried us through it all. A part that spoke to me the most was the amount of people and cards that came in from complete strangers. We all knew my Grandma to be somewhat of a "Chatty Kathy" and a "Nosy Nelly" (both of which we LOVED about her!) but it showed me that she touched so many probably without even knowing it.

I know we'll see her again soon but until then, I will never stop thanking God for giving me such a wonderful woman to model my life after, a true blessing!