So, I'm going to write about my Granny who is in heaven and was never controversial but always sweet.
I just opened a box that I had stashed away and found some of her things in it...pictures, letters, her hats and hair things...
When anyone went to visit my granny, they would ask how she was and often times she would say "as good as can be expected", but just as often she might say "perfect, just perfect."
I loved to visit with her and hear her stories from the days she was a working girl, earning money for herself and her family at home. Of how she met and married her first husband Isaac, that they travelled in a covered wagon from job to job. And later her relationship with my Grampa, whom she denied a marriage proposal and then later accepted. I heard the stories of her and her sister as girls, the love they shared, the games they played and the family they loved and lost. And she told me about her faith. She said, "If my children and grandchildren receive as much strength from the Lord as I did, they would be blessed."
It was my privilege to pick Granny up and bring her shopping or to family gatherings. Sometimes it was hard but mostly it was an honor. She couldn't hear well or keep track of everyone but she loved the action, the laughter and seeing the fun. The last time that I brought her, I watched her struggle with her shoes and I asked her if she was sure she wanted to come. She looked up into my eyes and said, "It's not for the food that I come, I just want to be where my people are." She loved her people.
The last honor I did for her was to braid her hair. She kept it long and when it was loose it hung to her waist. I gently brushed out the tangles and began the braid, carefully, hand over hand taking each soft strand until I reached the ends...ends that were tapered into the finest thread. I dipped it into water to hold the braid and brought it over her shoulder to rest in front...I have never seen her look more beautiful...
She was perfect, just perfect.
