Hey there spring chicken

On the left is my sister Deb. The baby is her first, named for numerous people, among them our late mother. And holding Paralee...Grandma, my Dad's mother.

It is funny, growing up I thought Grandma was kind of mean. Then I grew up and matured and started actually seeing what is growing on and she is a sweet, sweet, wonderful lady and very talented.

For years she helped Grandpa support their nine children, supplementing his income with a series of articles and poems she got published in a variety of magazines.

When I was growing up it was so funny...we all knew she was in poor health. For years, the family was saying, "Grandma is going to die any day. When she does, Grandpa will be so grief-stricken that he will die within a month." That was said for years.

Meanwhile, they were so funny together. Although they were, in their latter years, both teetotalers, largely due to some issues Grandpa had in earlier years, Grandpa loved to answer calls. "No, she isn't here, she's out getting drunk." It drove her nuts. "Kenneth," she would snap, "don't say that!" and we would all laugh.

When they went somewhere it was always Grandpa that drove. She was the classic back (front?) seat driver. "Turn here, Kenneth," she would say...so he would start to turn into a curb. "No, no, no, " she would say, panic-stricken, "Turn in the driveway."

Sadly, in 1995 Grandpa passed away. We all started saying she would pass away any time from grief.

The above picture, by the way, is from April, 2007.

No doubt my kids will one day be talking about how bad of health Great-Grandma is in and how she won't last much longer...