In January 1989, I went on my first cross country (cross time zone) business trip for Billie's Country. Leaving an almost-two-year-old Clint with my mom and dad, Mark and I flew to Washington D.C for a five day Hobby Industries of America convention and trade show.
Completely fatigued, I called home when we arrived at our hotel, like the good girl I am, to let my folks know I made it to the other side of the continent safely.
"Granny died a few hours after you left," my mom told me with great sadness. Granny was her mom and had been ill for months. Now with me gone, a business to run and a grandson to care for, she was also going to plan a funeral.
We got back in the nick of time; missing only the beginning of the service.
In July 1999, a friend invited me and my kids to join her for a week of camping in Kelowna. Her husband was going to set her up on Friday night, stay til Sunday, then head back home so he could work. I was to arrive on Sunday evening and stay til he came back 5 days later on Friday after work.
It was my first summer as a single-again female and I was navigating my way through all the changes that brought to my life.
I pulled into her campsite and turned off my car's engine.
"Could you back up a little?" she asked. "You aren't parked very well."
Turned out I couldn't back up. My transmission stopped functioning, so I called BCAA to tow it to the local dealership the following day. I was advised it would take 5 days to replace it - which meant that for 5 days we were both without a vehicle while camping with our 5 kids.
I called my mom from a phone booth to let her know our circumstances and to inform her she had no way of contacting me as my cell phone was dead and the only way to recharge it had just been towed away.
"Grandpa died just after you left," she said. Grandpa was her dad. He had been in the hospital for a few weeks with heart issues.
I made it home the day before the funeral.
In June 2003, my Bible School friend, Vern, and I decided to have our annual reunion weekend in Grand Prairie so that Joyce could join us. We stayed at the Super 8, went to a rodeo, and talked ourselves hoarse late into the night. As I was packing up to head to the airport, my cell phone rang. It was Mark. "Jane? My dad just died."
Last week in Palm Springs, Drew looked up from the laptop and said, "Mom? Clint's on MSN and he said that Great Grandma just died."
She was the last one. When Mark and I got married, we had 5 grandparents at our wedding - his two grandmas, my two grandmas and my grandpa. And now, the last family member of that generation had passed away.
She had been my grandmother-in-law for 15 years.
She will be missed...
Rest in peace, great grandma O.
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