Texas Tradition

As far back as I can remember, every spring we drove around central Texas for the thickest and most blue patch of bluebonnets (state flower) to take pictures in. When Kinley and I were in Georgetown in early March, I was talking with my sister about how I wanted Kinley to have a bluebonnet picture, but I didn't know if I was ever going to get the timing right to be in town when they were blooming.
As things tend to work out, this did too. We found out Tom was going to compete at Rice Universtiy in Houston last weekend. The next day my Grandmother was put into the hospital just outside Houston, so we all made the trip down. On our way to the nursing home, we stopped at a beautiful patch of bluebonnets a couple of block from my Grandmother's house. They were very thick and fairly tall. We plopped Kinley in the middle and she just stood there smiling. She never moved or sat down, although we couldn't get her to smell them either.

Luckily, when we got to the nursing home, my Grandmother was awake, though very tired. I don't know if she recongnized me or not, but she told Kinley she was beautiful. This was the first time I has seen her in two years and the first time she got to meet Kinley.
The next day, after a rain delay, Tom competed at Rice in the discus and the 400. He did pretty well. He ended up throwing 49.00 meters in the discus and runnng 49.06 in the 400. Both marks are good for this time of year. He is actually going to start competing almost every weekend. I'll try to keep up.

As I said earlier, thing tend to work out. I got a call from my mom Monday night about my grandmother, not so good. Kinley and I flew back down to Texas and drove straight to Sweeny. We visited with my grandmother for a couple hours and went to the hotel. My mom went again to visit on Wednesday morning. We drove up to Sugarland to my aunt's house. After a little rest, my mom and her sister began driving back to Sweeny, but they didn't make it in time. My grandmother had slipped away peacefully.

I don't really know what to say about her. She was a strong Christian woman who loved family, quilting, reading, and crossword puzzles. I can't imagine the life she lived. She married a man in the army, had four children, and lost her husband almost 30 years ago.
I know we will all miss her, but I also know she is much happier now than she ever could have dreamed possible. We love you Grandmother, and always will.