Granny

Granny passed away Tuesday, April 7, and we drove up to Tennessee on that day. I can't tell you how difficult that was. The viewing was Friday. There was a slide show on a TV at the funeral home with so many pictures of her, even some rare pictures from when she was a teenager. It was wonderful to see all those. The funeral was held Saturday. There were so many relatives there that I had not seen in ages... people I used to be close to and that I often missed. I felt like all eyes were on me, and they probably were, because everyone knew that Granny and I were the closest. Normally this would have bothered me, but I think the Lord carried me through it fantastically. I grieved well, and cried no more than I had tissues for :) I absolutely loved Granny's pastor and his wife. I wish I could see them all the time. Their names are Bob and Bobbie, how about that? Their last name is something long that starts with a Z, so he goes by BobZ. It was so evident that Bob loved my Granny, and knew her very well. He also knew me and my sisters well, from all the stories he had heard, and the pictures he had seen. I used to upload all my pictures to Walgreens.com and have them printed in TN for Granny to pick up, so she always had the latest pics. Evidently she took them to church with her. Somehow I felt like I knew Bob, too. The service at the funeral home was heavy, but by the time we all drove to the cemetery, the atmosphere there was a little lighter. Unfortunately, the weather was very cold and wet. Everyone had to park in, and walk through, a lot of mud to get to the plot. Much to Bob and Bobbie's approval, I changed into tennis in the car. We all laughed about my flowy dress and tennis, and agreed that Granny would have approved. She was buried in the most beautiful cemetery, next to my grandfather (lovingly called Punkin), and my uncle Alan, their firstborn who died at age 33. I have pictures on my camera of the view from that hill, but I have yet to locate my camera in the luggage! I will post them later.

The funeral was lovely, but the rest of the trip was not! Grace was sick on the drive up. She ruined a car seat before we even got out of town. We did get to rent a new, fully loaded suburban, with DVD, nav, leather, power running boards, the works. It was awesome! So we had plenty of room with Hannah and Malachi, and also added Bekah and Noma to the passenger list for the drive home. The drive home included more sleep and was less eventful. I wish our stay in TN had been uneventful, but sadly, that was a lot of bickering over Granny's things. My dad decided to sell the house, and we only had through Monday to help dad move everything out of the house. His brother left town the night of the funeral, and we had to leave Monday night, so we had to clean out the house pretty fast. A cousin of my dad's, who is closer in age to me than my dad, agreed to buy the house, which is fantastic. My dad is busy taking care of that transaction right now. But since we had to move so quickly, a few relatives (nieces of Granny) got very angry with us. I'm sure they felt we didn't allow some proper time to pass before "ripping apart" the house. We have gotten quite a few verbal lashings. I don't know why they don't understand that all of Granny's descendants live in TX, and don't have time to let the house sit for a while. It is not a good idea to leave a house vacant with valuables in it! I just don't get some people. oh well. I hope mom and dad are able to put out all the fires before they come home.

Speaking of home, I am so glad to be in mine! So GLAD! I love this place! And I have some painting to do!