...remembering grandma....

Yesterday would have been grandma's 94th birthday. Grandma was reunited with grampa in 1999, after a long fight with Alzheimers. It was a blessing for her journey here to end, but it was still hard to say goodbye. Grandma and grampa Murphy lived on a farm down in Bridgeland (near Duchesne). Their farm was the biggest adventure. The pile of lumber leftover from a torn down canal bridge became our fort. We turned the old couch springs into trampolines, and Lexie and I hid away all the rocks were collected from the lake under some loose boards. I can remember grandma smashing spiders with her fingers..."They won't hurt ya!" and clipping her nails with the paper scissors. There were always homemade pancakes and syrup for breakfast, and we drank milk from old tin cups. When grandma moved to Provo, we came to visit and swim in the condo's pool. Grandma's dresser mirror was always bordered with pictures of the grandkids and cards we had made for her. She loved the temple, and was there every day. Sweet grandma later served an 18 month proselyting mission in Ohio. I still have the letters she wrote to me.

This picture was taken the day Kenzie came home from the hospital. Grandma was never happier than when she was with her family. We didn't see grandma as much as her Alzheimer's worsened, but I remember mom bringing her home for lunch one day. We were eating soup from Yogurt Parlor. Grandma looked right at mom and said "This is so good. I'll have to tell Hazel about this place. She would love it!" Mom just smiled and said "You're right, I'm sure she would." Then mom and I had a good chuckle. Even in her forgetfulness, she was still thinking about her family. Aren't we all so blessed to have had such wonderful grandparents?