My Sweet Mimi

This week, James and I traveled back home to Waco to say goodbye to a very important person in my life.  My sweet maternal grandmother went home to be with the Lord on Friday.  It's so difficult to describe how the pain of loss is balanced with the peace of knowing that she is in a much better place; but that comfort and our faith is helping us through such a sad time.  What a reunion it must have been to see my grandfather - her soul mate - once again!

Newlyweds!  

She's going to have many legacies that live on through her, but I wanted to share some of the important things and lessons that I learned from her and try to make a part of how I live.  By no means an exclusive list, but a few of my favorites (and I think she would agree!)   

A Strong Marriage - Mimi lived 86 full years, and 62 of those years were married to her sweetheart.  She would probably admit that they weren't all easy, but she would be quick to remind that marriage was about commitment and devotion through both good and bad times.  (She would also set an example by remembering mostly the good - no need to dwell on anything else!)  James and I have 60 more years to keep working towards the example that they set for us. Should we be so lucky!

Mimi with me on my wedding day

Handcrafted Love:  It may have been common in 1950, but these days I'm probably in the minority of people who enjoy what my Mimi would simply call "hand work".  At a very young age, she taught me the basics of crochet, needlepoint, and embroidery.  What's more, she instilled in me the importance of sewing whatever I made with love, and how special a handmade gift can be to someone.  Or how warm it makes you feel to see a very worn loved baby afghan that you made!  When people ask me where I learned to crochet, I think back to my little 8 year old self spending hours and hours with an ever patient grandmother who taught me chain by chain. 

This sweet lovey would be a ball of yarn without her!

Carry On:  I'm thinking through how to best describe what I so admired about my grandmother, so I'll try to do so through an example:  when I would call her from an airport and say something like "oh, we're delayed 30 minutes, blah blah blah" she would share a story that put things in perspective.  She would laugh and think back to when she was traveling....from the US to Japan on a military jet...by herself...with three young kids (my mother being a few months old) in tow...and almost crashing into a Japanese mountain after a 20 hour flight and several failed attempts at landing...only to walk off the plane and experience her first earthquake.  Can you imagine?  And if I would ask "wow, Mimi, how did you make it through all that?" she would chuckle and say something like "well, honey, I just did!", as if the thought would never ever cross your mind to not do what you just had to do.  Our generation is a bunch of sissies, comparatively.  I love, loved her stories, and they inspire me to seek perspective, stay positive through life's circumstances, and above all (to steal a British saying from that generation) "Keep Calm and Carry On".

Active members of the Ex-POWs,
and committed to helping preserve the stories and honor the heroes of our military

I'm going to cap it at three, but I could go on and on and on... I'll jot them down in my heart so that she may continue to be a positive influence as I evolve into the woman I want to be.