Goodbye Grandma

Miriam Johnson

11/3/1923 – 11/23/2016

We had the funeral for my grandmother this afternoon. Just one day shy of what would have been her 93rd birthday. It's never easy to say a final goodbye to someone you love but it is something that is inevitable and you will have to eventually face. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to talk about the memories I had of my grandma standing behind a lectern in front of a crowd but somehow I managed to do it. She was a gift to us from God & I am happy that she was a part of my life.  

Here (below) is what I read at my grandmothers funeral service 

'Grandmother in the dictionary is defined in 2 ways. The first is ‘the mother of one’s father or mother’ the second is ‘a female ancestor’. Well I must say that although these definitions may be correct they do not describe MY grandmother. Throughout all my life I never lived close to grandma, the closest was about 200 miles apart so our visits were not frequent. I do have lots of fond memories of the times we did share. The grandmother I knew loved to write & send letters. I loved getting mail from Grandma and reading her letters. I have a few of them saved in a box. Grandma was also an avid reader, whenever we’d visit she always had a book or had just finished reading one. She was a loyal baseball fan, I remember I spent the night at her condo when she lived in Greenbriar and she was sitting in her Lazyboy chair trying to explain to me about which team was in what division. I remember just listening to her and thinking to myself how is it that she could spend all afternoon watching baseball on TV and not be bored. Obviously I didn’t appreciate baseball at the time. She was a crossword expert (at least in my eyes). I sat at the table with her once and tried to do one of them and it seemed like for every 5 I would manage to figure out I’d have to ask her to give me the answer to the next one. Of course she knew all the answers so there was no point in having the answers in the back of the book. It was actually quite handy to have my human answering machine sitting right across from me.  She also liked to quilt. I will always cherish the beautiful handmade quilt she made for Sara. I have kept it all these years & it is still in mint condition. She was one of those kind souls who had a love our furry 4 legged friends. I remember she would tell me all about Casey & how much joy and happiness Casey brought to her.  These are just a few of the great memories I have of Grandma. I know this is a sad moment in time for us but we should celebrate her life and remember the good times we shared together.
Life. Like one big running race. The horn signals the start and everyone takes off, on their journey, and not everyone has the same pace. She started the race before me but I eventually caught up to her & we shared a few good miles together. She picked up her pace and ran ahead of me and has already crossed the finish line. Well, I’m halfway through my race but I know when I cross the finish line she will be there waiting to greet me.'

family post funeral get together