Grandma

My grandmother, Lori Holloway, went to rest with our Lord in heaven this past Monday afternoon.  She will be sorely missed!  She was a wonderful woman who loved like no other.  She and my Grandpa were married for 53 years.  She was the glue that held all of us together as a family.  As different as we are and as spread out as we have become, still we would come together at her house for a reunion once or twice a year. 

My first summer job was with her in Auburn at her financial planning office.  I made hot tea for her and cups of soup for me.  I filed papers and reorganized her filing system.  I tried to learn how to use her financial software, but I was unsuccessful at that!  Mostly, we talked and had good times together, and she paid me for it :)

 My family went through some difficult times when I was in high school and she was always there for me.  When I was applying for Florida College, she was the one who asked if I wanted to be baptized.  When I came home for holidays and for the summer, she and Grandpa let me live with them, asking no questions, just knowing that it was easiest for me.  I brought friends and huge piles of laundry to her house with me!  Even when my aunt and her children lived with them, there was still a bedroom for me at her house.

Some of my favorite memories are the hat party we had when she lost her hair the first time to chemo and then going to worship on Sunday where all of the women wore hats in her honor, staying up with her and Grandpa to watch the news and Letterman, playing cards together, and her lovely singing voice.  Through dinner table conversation, singing, millions of Rook games, and her horrible illness, she taught me lessons on contentment, love, hospitality, motherhood, and just being a godly woman.  Even when she was sick, she still had a smile for those who were around.  She sang even when her voice was not strong.  She was a caretaker even when she was the one who needed caring for.
I am so very glad Adam and I got to tell her goodbye.  Though we all just had the hardest week of our lives, it is splendid to know that she will not cry anymore and that she is at peace with our Lord in heaven.  Won't it be wonderful there?!