Remembering Judy

My grandmother Judy passed away this morning. She was 94. She was an amazing woman.

We called her Judy, which was her nickname. Her real name was Jewell. She has such a great story, which sometime I hope to have the time to sit down and really write about. I can't do it justice on a blog post. Born in 1914, she lived through it all; through the depression, the world wars, on into this time. She never lost her mental awareness, even up to a couple of months ago when she was here during hurricane Ike. She had been evacuated from her home and had to spend a couple of weeks with us here. I am very thankful for that time, even though it came out of a disaster. She told me on that visit that she was ready to go. That she was looking forward to it even, in a grateful way. She died happy with a large family legacy. She was with my father, her only child. She had had trouble having children, so he was her gift in life. She got to know her 6 grandchildren and her 4 great- grandchildren and got to see us all doing well.

My grandmother gave me so much. She's the one who taught me how to paint, how to cook, took me to Sunday school at her church, watched me for weeks during the summer, and most of all she was always there in my corner, and truly recognized my life's struggles. She knew me well, probably because I'm a lot like her in many ways. Different but of the same make I think. She always told me "You wouldn't be afraid of the Devil himself if you met him." She thought I needed to be more careful. She was right of course. She was a smart, independent woman, especially for having grown up when she did,. She had a graduate degree, a career in teaching, didn't marry until she was 27. She lived on her own for a decade before marrying, which was against the norm for her era. She also had a very funny, dry sense of humor. And at her age, she had learned she could get away with saying whatever was on her mind. She earned that right for sure.

She was independent and strong but nurturing, and I loved her very much. And I always knew she loved me too. I will miss her greatly.