Grandma Joyce

Last Monday my Grandma Joyce passed away. I was very sad to hear the news, but also relieved. Hearing about Grandma's condition over Thanksgiving, I knew she was going to go sometime this winter. I'm glad she didn't have to suffer very long. I can just hear her saying things like, "This is awful!", referring to her situation in the nursing home she was in.

Those of you who knew her, knew her as the vibrant, friendly woman who was always on the go, and that is how she wants to be remembered. At her funeral, we celebrated her life, remembering all of her idiosyncrasies. My kids were able to come with me and they also helped keep things light, along with their cousin Natalie.

We enjoyed seeing all my relatives, eating lots of pizza, and especially the 10 gallons of Blue Bell ice cream! (Grandpa would have been proud at that one!) We got to take home some of Grandma's jewelery, and believe me, there was a lot, which was one of Victoria's favorite parts. We also went through a lot of the rest of the stuff at the house. Lets just say that I'd never actually seen cardboard crumble to dust before!

It was a good experience for my kids and luckily they did well on the plane. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures myself, since there were plenty of other cameras and I had my hands full at the good picture moments, but here is a picture I found of Grandma at her house on one of her many trips.

We love you Grandma Joyce!