Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day! For our family, Memorial Day mostly means spending time with family and friends, drinking and eating as much as our tummies can handle, and enjoy a long, three day weekend. Woot!

Since we don't have any family in Las Vegas (sniff), we took advantage of the amazing, glorious Las Vegas weather and went to the new outdoor mall down by the strip. Seriously, the temperature right now in the desert should be in the 100s and unbearable, but for some godly reason, it's been in the 70s for the HIGH. Hallelujah. We're extremely grateful.




We went out to lunch, and I was coaching my husband on how to take a good picture. He just laughed at me, and when he laughed, I snapped the pic. Cute, eh? I could eat him up.

So....

.......mostly Memorial Day for me is about BBQing and friends and beer, but in my quiet moments I remember the people that I've lost in my life.

This is my grandmother. She was 'Miss Tulsa' (OK) in the late 30s, early 40s. I'm not sure when. I'm just guessing the year since she was born in 1920. She passed away early last year (2007). She was my last living (and closest) grandparent- my father's mother. Her name was Dorothy Sullivan then...wasn't she a gem? Look at her hair, and her clothes! She was the most kind and gracious person I've ever known. She was a "lady" in the true sense of the word. I feel so lucky to have come from such good genetics. I have this picture hanging on my wall- I miss her a lot!

I was lucky enough to have been at her bedside when she passed away. I believe seeing someone on the verge of death is as life-altering as seeing a baby's birth. It's the most intimate human experience a person can share with you. It's all part of the cycle of life, and I'm very grateful to have been a part of her life, and her passing.

The only thing I regret is- my grandmother was only able to meet Ava- her only great granddaughter- days before she died. But... Ava was able to hold her hand, and speak to her in her baby language.....and I know my grandmother was able to hear her, even when she was sick. My mom once told me "the soul hears what the ears cannot", and I hold that close to my heart every day of my life. I pray that all the people I've lost are in safe, warm places. I want them to know that they wont be forgotten, and that I love them very much. I want them to know that I will tell my children about them, and I will hold them close to my soul forever.

Happy Memorial Day!