One generation gone

Yes, my father's mother, my Nana, or my kids' Grand Nana died on Sunday evening. She basically fell asleep in her recliner and did not wake up. The nurses at the nursing home in Gadsden, AL, found her nonresponsive with no pulse and not breathing. At the hospital they were able to get her heart beating again, but she did not breathe any more on her own. Dad made it there in time to hold her hand and tell her that it was OK to go on. She was 90 1/2 years old, so this was not at all a shock to our family. For the funeral, our whole family loaded up and drove about 5 hours to Greeneville, Tennessee, almost to North Carolina or Virginia. Yes, Huntsville is only about 25 miles from Tennessee, but Greeneville is at the far eastern end of the state. The weather was absolutely perfect - sunny and about 65 for a high and the fall leaves in the Appalachians were beautiful. Nana would have loved to have seen her old homeplace with us, but it is good for her that she doesn't have to live the way she's been living for several years now. She has been telling us for some time that she was ready to go on. I'm happy that she got to know Cora and Greta well enough to be able to tell them apart and at least got to meet Franklin and Carlton one time. Greta and Cora handled the whole thing very well, but I'm not sure they really understand that we won't go visit her any more. They enjoyed dancing and singing for her as she squealed with delight about her "little fairies." So, if you're wondering where I've been for a few days, that is at least part of it. Things continue to be as hectic as ever with our normal lives and then add to it that Cora and Greta's birthday party was last Saturday (I'll write a post about that soon) and they turn four years old on Wednesday the 29th. The good news is that they are starting to behave a little better. The threes have been the more terrible age than the twos were for them!