Memories, they last forever...

Well, it has been a little while, so I will update you on what happened recently. We had a good Christmas at my parents house in Gainesville last week. We spent the day up there, and that is new, because before it was a weekend or at least a two day adventure to see them as they lived 3 1/2 hours south of us. It is nice to go there for the day and come back home. We all got what we wanted, gift cards and a tool set :) Now I can fix things, ha ha. Sarah got her food processor so that is good. It was a different feeling Christmas than ever, it just seemed strange. That may be because my dad's mom, passed away on the 21st. She was 81, and had been suffering from Alzheimer's for the past 6 or 7 years. She has not been able to speak or walk for a couple years now. She only made eye movements and subtle motions with her head that showed she remembered you or recognized you. It is sad to lose someone so near and dear to you, although we really lost her a few years ago. It is hard on me because she was like a mother to me, she was truly a special woman. She raised 6 kids on her own as her husband taught school at the local High School, which all 6 kids went to. She was an amazing cook, a wonderful mother, a community wonder (as she volunteered what time she had left over) for the church and local families, a missionary as she and Doran went to Africa to cook for the kids there, and a loving gramma to the 4 grand kids she had. We went to the funeral Saturday, and flew back yesterday. It was all too fitting that the temperature in Kansas dropped 30 degrees from Friday to Saturday and snowed all day Saturday for the funeral. That's because she truly loved the snow. She had a sign at her house that said, "Let it snow". It snowed for her, to send her home to be at peace, the way she would have wanted it. She also had another sign in her house, it said "Sit long, talk often and love much". That truly shows who she was. She would talk to anyone, help everyone and loved all who she met. She was a special gramma, mother and wife. We will all miss her dearly, although, we know she is much happier now as she can finally be true to her soul, she can sit, talk and love everyone in Heaven now as she is no longer saddled with that horrible disease that took her from us way too early. In remembrance of Phyllis Coleen Rhoads. We all love you and will miss you, Rest In Peace Gramma.