Gunner Up GRAAAANDMA!

My Grandma passed away August 19th, 2013. I have been working on this post and putting off publishing it because I wanted to add childhood pics at Grandma's house of myself, brother, and cousins, but who knows when I would manage. So here's the post :)

Grandma's obituary as it appeared in the newspaper:

Betty Louise Johnston Smith was born on March 14, 1922. She grew up a tomboy in Poland, daughter of Laura Lou Howell and Chad Johnston, Fire Chief of the Poland Fire Department and prominent hardware merchant for the Johnston Hardware Company.
Upon graduating from nursing school, she joined the Army Nursing Corp. She was being shipped to support the invasion of Japan when war plans changed. She was then stationed in the Philippines, where she met her husband, Clark Smith of Akron. They were married after the war and lived in Poland until 1953, when they moved to Daingerfield, Texas.
Clark worked until retirement at the Lone Star Steel Company and she worked as a nurse at the M&S Hospital in Pittsburg, Texas. They retired and moved to a 60 acre farm in Pittsburg in 1976. Clark passed away Aug. 9, 1986.
Betty served as a volunteer for several organizations in Pittsburg and made many friends along the way. She lived on the home place in Pittsburg until her death on Aug. 19, 2013 at the age of 91.
She is survived by two sons, Clark Smith Jr. and wife Linda of Fort Worth, Texas and Fletcher Smith and wife Linda of Tyler, Texas; grandson Charles Stewart (Chad) Smith and wife Katie of Glendora, Calif.; granddaughter Allison Buffo and husband Jim of Minneapolis; granddaughters Karen Luhrs and husband Scott of Tyler, Texas and Jessica O’Keeffe and husband Alan of Brooklyn, N.Y.; seven great-grandchildren, Sophia, Emily, Sullivan Smith, Tyler and Calvin Buffo, and Anne and Abby Luhrs, and two dogs, Salt and Princess.

Grandma on Tony the Pony her trick horse and with her parents, Laura and Charles Johnston.

Grandma on her wedding day.

 

Grandpa, my dad, Uncle Clark, and Grandma

Anne and Abby fishing at Great Grandma's. 

The girls both caught their first fish at Grandma's lake.

Abby and Grandma

Grandma and Sofia, my brother Chad's oldest daughter, at the beach.

Granny, Anne, and Grandma at her big 90th birthday celebration.

  

This picture was at Cousin Jessica's 

wedding reception in Ft. Worth.

Grandma and I celebrating her 91st birthday!

Below is what I read at Grandma's Memorial Service:

Our grandmother passed away Monday, August 19th and we miss her greatly. A few days later I sat down to sort out all the memories I have of her.  Grandma was a big part of our lives so those memories are varied, vivid, and numerous. As I thought about what Grandma had provided, Chad, Allison, Jessica and me I realized that these weren’t just memories they were blessings, blessings that are too numerous to count, blessings ultimately from our heavenly Father.

Grandma always prompted us to try new things and encouraged our individual interests from baseball to horseback riding, cross country running to cheer leading. One incident in particular illustrates this quality. Jessica had recently attended Charm School and was eager to share the beauty secrets she had learned. Over the phone she imparted the ingredients for a wrinkle reducing facial mask to Grandma who proceeded to mix up this miracle recipe. According to Grandma, she then took the bowl of beauty into the bedroom, lay down on her bead, and poured on the mask. She lay there for a few minutes as the oatmeal based mixture dripped down her face, oozed into her ears, and slithered down her neck. It didn’t take long for Grandma to realize that something wasn’t quite right, the mask failed to harden, and the wrinkles were just like they were when she began the process.

Grandma sought to broaden our horizons. She was well traveled and often took her grandchildren with her on these adventures. Grandma was in her seventies when she took fourteen year old Allison and Chad on a backpacking trip across Europe. Recently,  Allison read over the journal Grandma kept on this trip and reported that the first page began with the line, “I think I’ve made a mistake.” That probably because Chad had suffered from motion sickness on the airplane and continued to be sick after they landed while Allison suffered from nightmares. There were good memories too,  like drinking hot chocolate together every night in London; getting lost in Paris at close to midnight; leaving Chad and Allison sitting outside a pub in London so Grandma could have a pint of bitters; Chad and Allison getting caught in a hail storm on the top of a mountain in Switzerland; the three of them getting lost hiking in search of a waterfall they could hear but never find; rushing away from a great meal in Italy convinced that all their worldly possessions had been stolen by a man they had met at the train station;  Ricki, the bee farmer, in Venice. Whatever it was, Grandma was always up for the adventure.

She loved us well. I know that because only love would prompt someone to host four loud and rowdy kids in her home each summer. Those are the richest memories for me: picking up litter on the roadside, walking to get the paper, fishing, building forts, painting t-shirts, going to the movies, playing endless games of monopoly, riding in the trunk of grandma’s car, calling bingo at the nursing home, swimming, helping in the garden, stacking cans at the Helping Hands Store, the train museum. I could go on and on . . .

I was thinking about how abundantly rich our lives are because of the way Grandma loved us. I realize that it’s something that can’t be truly comprehended because we will never know what life would have been like without her love and service. It reminds me of 1 Corinthians 13:1.” We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!” Grandma, Betty Lou, was one of the many gracious gifts from God in our lives. I believe that many of you think of her as a gift from God in your lives as well. My prayer is that as you think of what Grandma meant to you, you also know the most precious gift from God, salvation through Jesus Christ his Son who said, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

Before I conclude I wanted to leave you with a few timeless words of wisdom from Grandma:

Chivalry is dead

Be upstanding

Lord, give me strength

I was never bored as a child

We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it

Breathe in and out

Why don’t you kids go outside and play.

Everything in moderation.

Let the air get to it. 

May everyone be as fortunate to have a “grandma” like ours in your life.