Celebrating a Life

A few weeks ago, I went to Arkansas to visit my 100 year old Grandma.  She was being her sweet perky self, full of smiles and laughing at her own funny remarks.  She could really crack herself up. She was funny.  She, also, was a great story teller, a wonderful cook, could play the guitar, (although she would have called it "pickin" the guitar).

During that visit, she was talking about her longevity. (or mortality depending on how you look at it)  Somewhere in that conversation she made the statement,   "I've been sitting on the top of this mountain for quite awhile now and the Lord has yet to come by and knock me off."

She is off the mountain at long last.  While, you wouldn't think that the death of someone that is coming up on 101, would be unexpected...but yes, this was very unexpected.  She had a slip in her bedroom and fell.  As a precaution, my uncle took her in to have her checked.  After a myriad of tests, the doctor said they didn't see anything wrong.  Call, me a skeptic but the dying part leads me to think that maybe the tests were "inconclusive".

I know she was ready.  She was happy and secure with her mortality, her faith and the love of her family.  I think that makes losing someone easier, knowing they were ready.

My Grandma was born, raised and lived her entire in the Ozark Region of Arkansas.  She rarely left the state as she wasn't willing to ever take the chance she would die anywhere other than the hills of the Ozarks.  My Grandma raised my brother and I the first 10 years of our lives at which time,  we left to live with one of our parents.  (long complicated story) Therefore, I had the opportunity to come to appreciate how she LOVED where she came from.

Last week, my family made the drive to participate in the celebration of her life.  For all the years I lived and visited in the foothills of the Ozark mountains, I can tell you that it is a beautiful place. While you might not appreciate the terrain from the inside the the car, the Ozarks are quite pretty.  You will especially not be a fan if you are prone to motion sickness.




There are miles of hills and curves going into Northern Arkansas



More twists and turns...are you car sick yet???



You will see springs and rivers



Hills and valleys...As the old saying goes...The Ozark Mountains
aren't high, it is that the Ozark valleys are deep.



More springs.....



To our little old cemetery where my Grandpa and Grandma and my  Great Grandparents and a host of others assorted "kin" rest. 

This week will be a week of memories and nostalgia.  I consider myself a lucky person to have had my grandparent this long and have roots in a place that was loved and appreciated.