Gone But Not Forgotten

My maternal Grandmother, Mildred Long Walker Wright, passed away on October 29th, at the age of 90. She had been slowly declining over several years, and had been in assisted living since the summer of 2010 after she had suffered a mild stroke during Christmas of 2009. Prior to that she had lived with my parents for several years. She was from her beloved Gadsden, AL, so the move to Tennessee was hard for her, but ended up being a real blessing for us all. We got to spend even more time with her, and she got a lot of joy from being around us and especially my brother's kids and watching them grow up. My mom was a wonderful caretaker, even when being put in a position that was so unnatural for her. She was selfless and loving toward her mother for many years.  

Many elderly people get combative and mean with dementia, but not Grandmother. She was so sweet and kind, even to the very end. She was always greeting the other residents and became very childlike in her ways. She was extremely faith-filled and was always talking about Jesus and Our Savior...praying and singing hymns even when she couldn't carry on a conversation.

 I can remember spending the night at her house as a kid and getting to sleep in the bed with her (a real treat!!). She would always hold my hand, and we would pray before we went to sleep. I remember one time when she was living with my parents the four of us went to the beach. Steven must have had to work, because she and I shared a room with twin beds. I can remember her kind of "sleep talking" in the middle of the night, but she was praying and saying things like, "thank you, Jesus" and "we love you, Jesus". What a Godly legacy she left behind for her family! I love you, Grandmother. You'll be missed, but we will keep you alive in our memory and share those memories with our children.

Just two weeks prior to her death, Henry and I went to see Grandmother during Fall Break. I'm so glad we did! I had taken him several other times, but was so glad to get these pictures of them together and interact with her. For me to say goodby and tell her I love her before she died brought a lot of closure. I could see she had declined, but she was still her sweet self. She was trying to talk to us some, and when she was able to focus on Henry, she did say a few times, "precious" and "oh, how sweet". Grandmother truly LOVED children-she was the type to come up to your child in the store and want to talk, the type to always have a trinket or candy for the kids, the type to light up around children, especially her own family. She knew what was important in life.

We got Henry to sing "Jesus Loves Me" and Grandmother joined in for a little bit of it. So sweet. I'm glad I got pictures, but am so mad that I didn't video this.

There were two funerals held-one in Tennessee where Grandmother had been in assisted living, and a service was also held in Gadsden where she was buried. Above is the majority of the Walker clan......my mom and uncle Larry with 5 of the grandkids and 11 great grandkids (Nicole is in college and could not come, my other 2 cousins would be at the Gadsden burial the next day). Let me just say that Grandmother would have been in her element with her whole family around!! She would have loved seeing everyone. 

An attempt (feeble at best) of the Sherrod cousins...:)

Afterward the whole gang went out to lunch and Henry was in his element.....he was a total ham and was pushed around from table to table to all the family while they ate. I think we took up half of the restaurant. Maybe Henry will have Grandmother's personality-she was a true people person and loved interacting with others.

The next day, Nov 2, we drove to Gadsden for the service in this beautiful chapel and the burial afterward. She was buried beside her parents and three sisters.

Afterward with my two other cousins, Christy and Jeremy, who are from Birmingham, plus Mom, Dad, and Uncle Larry.

Henry and Walker took a real liking to one another! Walker is my cousin Christy's 4th grader who we rarely see! In the background is Christy's husband Phil Jackson and Jeremy's wife Summer Walker. We loved catching up with them!

And here are my handsome boys:)