November 4, 2013

my grandma kelly

my grandma kelly passed away last night at the age of 91
as i knew she was close to the end this weekend, i've been thinking a lot about her
she is honestly the mostly saintly person i've ever known
she was a devout catholic and so patient and loving to her 8 children and many grandchildren

one of my favorite things she did was call me "little sister" 
i loved it
and on my birthday she would always recall where she was travelling the day i was born
she also gave me my flat feet and even apologized for that :) 
we lived a few hours away from her so we didn't see her that often growing up
but my ex-husband and i lived in her city for 2 years and i got to be around her more
while i was in hair school she would come get her hair done by me
and would read her prayers while she sat under the dryers 
and would tell me i'm her favorite
this is a picture from about 5 years ago when she turned 87
 this was her 89th birthday party, i believe
 and this was june of 2012
right before we moved to utah
we went to see her one more time at a family reunion
 i'm so glad all four of my children have met her 
and that i got this picture of her holding eleanor
my grandma didn't know until a few years ago whether her first name was barbara or ruth
because her birth certificate was lost in a fire
she went her whole life by barbara but it turns out her first name is actually ruth
anyway, in the hospital when we had eleanor michael told me he knows what we should name our next girl
(assuming our next baby would be a girl) and the name is ruth constance olson
ruth after my grandma (we'll call her ruthie) 
and constance after my mom (it's her first name but she goes by connie)
i loved it
and we still plan on using it if we are carrying a girl
if it happens to be a boy, we'll probably use my grandma's maiden name lyons as the middle name
because i'd love to give her a namesake either way
this has been our plan the whole pregnancy 
whether she was living or not
i love her so much and i will miss her 
but i am glad she isn't suffering anymore (she had a traumatic last 4 months, sadly)
and she can be with all of the loved ones who have already left this earth

5 comments:

Monica said...

Rachie, your beautiful words touched my heart. I love her so much! She really was an angel on this Earth and now she finally got her wings. I think we can all learn from her example of long suffering and patience. It's so sad to me that I didn't realize that visit in June of 2012 would be the last. I'm so glad we had it, though. She was happy and healthy and all was right in her world. That's how I want to remember her.
I'm so excited to see you guys this weekend!

Kristin said...

So sorry for your loss. My grandma passed away a couple years ago and it was such a bitter sweet time. I love the name Ruthie and think it's so sweet that it's your grandma's name.

Tami said...

Loosing a grandparent is very bittersweet. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your entire family.

p.s. Love the name!

miriam said...

I was talking to my friend yesterday about when my grandma died. It is hard! Yay for the gospel and knowing it's not the end! And I love Ruthie Constance or baby boy Lyons :) I also love all those pictures.

andre'a said...

it's all so sweet and sad!