My Grandma {Virginia} Johnson lived 82 years and for that, I am so thankful...
She passed away on December 26th, 2010. She had been battling Alzheimer's for quite some time and was slowly getting worse by the year, and within this last year, she was getting worse by the month. We all hurt deeply watching her slip into a body and mind that wasn't her own. But yet, I still cherished the chance to be able to hug her and tell her that I loved her whenever I could...even if she didn't recognize my voice or my face. I was preparing myself for that day I would be forced to say goodbye.
Growing up, my grandparents' home was my second home...it was the place where all 34 of the Johnson clan would meet for holiday get togethers. A place where my siblings and I would go if we were sick and had to stay home, but my mom had to work. It was a place where almost every Sunday night we would go over to their house after church and have apple slices and popcorn. My grandma loved doing anything she could for her grandkids and there was never a moment where I didn't see that. She rarely sat down and was always doing something for someone.
On Christmas Day 2010 my parents got a phone call that my grandma wouldn't have much longer to live and so for the rest of Christmas evening they went to be with my grandpa as he prepared to say goodbye to the love of his life...she held on just a little bit longer until 11:45 PM on December 26th. My grandpa and grandma had been married for 60+ years! For my grandpa, she was his world, his everything, and he couldn't imagine life without her...even with her slowly slipping away day by day. It was heartbreaking to watch him try so hard to let her go. She didn't know who this man was that came to feed her for every meal, but yet he still never missed a meal if he could help it. This man loved and adored his wife so much that he never failed to tell her that. He would still hold her hand and call her his bride when he went to visit her. All she could do was stare blankly across the room, but I have no doubt that she still heard those words even if she wasn't able to express her love back.
My mom shared with me, that on Christmas night when they went to be with her during what they thought were her final hours, my grandpa leaned over and whispered in her ear that he was finally OK with letting her go and that he would be fine. Part of me believes that she held on for so long just for her to hear those words...that he would be OK with her leaving him here. To me, that's how she showed him that she loved him. She wanted him to be OK without her.
My grandma was an amazing woman. She was selfless in every way imaginable, tender-hearted, caring, full of adventure (she had to be for all the fishing trips and motor home rides she traveled with my grandpa!), always thought of others and wanted to give to others as much as she could. Her smile and laughter is a memory that will never fade. With the passing of my grandma, I have been asking myself A LOT...how do I want to be remembered? So many special moments and memories have been shared about my grandma and the kind of person she was. She has such an amazing legacy that I am so proud to be her granddaughter...I want to leave the kind of legacy she left. I want to be remembered like that.
I am so thankful I was blessed with 32 years of my life having this wonderful person to call my grandma. She was there when both of my children were born. Her smile would light up when I brought my kids close to her face and would say, "Grandma, these are your great-grandchildren". She loved kids, and in the last years of her life, she often would only smile when there were kids coming to greet her.
I am forever grateful for these pictures...
4-22-06
10-31-06
Grandpa & Grandma with Austin
9-28-07
Grandma with Austin
2-4-08
Grandma & Grandpa with Mikayla & Austin
1-28-08
This place was no longer her home...it was time for her to let go.
