Still Traveling

The long silence on this blog is an indication that I am still far from home and have very limited computer access. I have been in Alabama for a week now, staying at my grandmother's home with my mother. My wish for one more visit with Grand was not to be. She passed peacefully and without pain a few days before I arrived. I cut my conference time in San Antonio short in order to be present at the memorial and funeral in Franklin, Kentucky. My sense of loss at her death is so deep that I cannot begin to express it. In the week that I have been here, I have not felt at all like writing. Perhaps that will come.

I was here for her 94th birthday last July, and she was so vibrantly alive. The last photo I took of her was the one on this post and I just love it. It is so typical of how she lived life, with enthusiasm and laughter. Her final illness was swift and brief; she decided that it was time to go, and in five short days she simply withdrew her life force and was gone. She left us with wonderful memories that will never be forgotten.

I will be back in Bethel on Sunday night, after a brief stopover in Seattle to visit with Dad and Stepmom. New posts to come then...