Remembering

As most of you know, my family lost my grandmother, Nan Singletary on Saturday morning September 20, 2014. She was 88 years old and lived an amazing adventure of a life. She is now reunited in heaven with the Creator of the Universe, adoring husband, and young son, which, in the words of my little brother, is “a pretty great day. “

            We had an amazing relationship. She called me her favorite granddaughter (yes, I was her only). My mother calculated that in my 25 years, I have lived next door to her for 21 years. Many people talk about her as loving, kind, generous, selfless, and she was all those things! BUT those were not my favorite qualities about her. I loved her sassiness, spunk, and sense of adventure. I think I value these so much because I love that ALL of these qualities existed in one person. To be kind and loving is awesome, but to add curiosity and wit to the mix is magic. It is exactly like I want to be when I am 88. I don’t want to worry as much as she did, but it is also an endearing part of how much she loved people. I know people talk about people after they are gone like they were saints. In a lot of ways she was…but I think many of the parts that made her human were my favorites”:

My grandfather was spending too much time at the church and not prioritizing his family, so she told him he had his halo on too tight. J

When we took Grandma on a cross country road trip right after we got married, and our favorite night was pizza and beer in St. Louis, but Grandma wouldn’t let me post the picture because she didn’t want to be seen with the beer. J (Sorry Grandma for ratting you out).  For more of this see... www.grandmaandthenewlyweds.blogspot.com These are just two of MANY incriminating examples but I am only brave enough to post two here.

A Picture From Our Roadtrip

            Grieving from afar has been a difficult and weird experience. We said goodbye with the knowledge that it might be “goodbye.” She told me not to cry but we both teared up. She prayed for us every morning at 9:00 am (4:00 pm here).  I called home a lot towards the end. Each phone call, she told me she loved us and was proud of us. She told Cody to take care of me on their last phone call. It was hard not coming home, but Grandma would have HATED it if I had showed up! I would have been in SO MUCH TROUBLE with her! I just wish I could have been there to tell/hear stories and be with my whole family. I felt like a bad granddaughter for staying and wondered what people at the celebration service would think about me being the only family member not there. In my heart, I know I did what she would have wanted. Facebook and telephones are wonderful inventions I need to thank Alexander Graham Bell and Mark Zuckerburg when I get a chance. Thank you so much for your prayers, facebook messages, facebook posts, and phone calls. I appreciate them so much! They are really helping in the grieving process. I tried to be a part of it as much as possible at home with helping Cody edit the obituary, picking out outfits, and adding pieces to the service. Here I had great prayer support and friendship from the other missionaries.

            When my grandfather was dying, I did not cry about it, but I SOBBED because I did not get a piece of chocolate cake at dinner! Yes, I was projecting the problem, thank you psych majors. We were in a restaurant when my grandmother died, and all I did was nod to my friend to say she was gone, and a few minutes later there was a giant piece of chocolate cake at my place! She had remembered the story and wanted to make sure I got my chocolate cake! J Anther friend here took me off campus one afternoon, took me out for lunch in a garden gazebo WITH Internet J, and gave me an opportunity to tell Grandma stories, and it was wonderful!

 Just before we left Grandma had some friends over
to hear about what we are doing in Uganda.

She used her international decorations
to create a beautiful setting.

            










          I am so glad that she is not suffering. I know she is thrilled to be reunited with her husband, and I cannot imagine her joy at seeing her son after 60-plus years! I am jealous that she is with her creator and Savior and all of her animals that she is convinced are in heaven with her. Her theory is that God has everything she needs in heaven, so clearly he has her animals there. J