A Grieving Celebration

A little while back FTD posted about Grandmother here.  You should go read it, it's incredible, but so very sad.  This post is no different and certainly won't be eloquent as I have no words to express now our "silent house."  Our grandmother, our mother's mother, passed away on July 14th surrounded by her incredible children, some grandchildren, and some great grand children.  We have all expressed our grief in various ways, still struggling to realize that while she as we knew her was gone a little while ago, Mary Royce Hogg is now among the angels, in her rightful place in Heaven.  The family gathered together from our respective coasts to attend the funeral and see our extended family.

It seems so much easier now to remember my grandmother before the Alzheimer's took hold - an incredible sense of humor and dry wit, a fantastic ability to convince each one of her 14 grandchildren that we in fact were her favorite one (and of course since we share the same name and my daughter, her great grand daughter shares a name with my grandmother's mother, basically I win. )  She was an extraordinary artist and tried to teach us all to paint china as she did (impossible) the kneelers at St. Francis that we all knelt on to grieve and celebrate her life were made by her (and some attempted by her grandchildren). She was a blessed woman.  But we are all the more blessed for having the privilege of knowing her, knowing her love for her family, and her love for Jesus.  We have no doubt that Grandmother has claimed her rightful inheritance in Heaven.  It doesn't make us miss her any less, but we'll wait for the day to sing with her again.

Honestly, I can't proof read and that is all I can write.  We'll forever miss her, but we should all remember to celebrate her, to love what she loved, and honor her memory by keeping the family close, by being fiercely loyal to one another, and love without judgement - always love.

Sunset: Pensacola Beach 2012