Grandma Waggoner... the best woman I know...

Last night, December 23rd, 2008, my Grandma Waggoner passed away. Donna Waggoner was an amazing woman who lived a very full life and was loved by many. She was always very active in the church and was truly a missionary to many. She was the last grandparent that was living in my family and she will be missed by many friends and family members. She touched a lot of people's lives and gave freely of herself to others everyday and especially in their times of need. I will miss her terribly until I'm able to see her again.

I have to admit that it was very shocking to be contacted on Monday and be told that Grandma had suffered a severe stroke and was in the ICU portion of the hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. I had just talked to her that weekend previous and she sounded just fine. She told me how much she missed Landon and couldn't wait to see him again. I just wish that could have happened just one more time before she left us. There are times when I feel sad because I miss her and want to say goodbye and just don't really want to face the fact that it will be a long time till I see her again, but then she would have had it this way if she could. She never did want to be put into a nursing home and didn't want to have others take care of her. So this would have been the way she had wanted to go, with her boots still on, as others have said. I'm glad she is finally out of her pain and that she's able to be reunited with her love.

She was always very independant and loved to clean her house and make her "Famous Jello Salad" during gatherings. She enjoyed traveling around the world with Grandpa Wetsel Waggoner. Her greatest enjoyment though would have to be having family around her, especially at the holidays. Grandma loved to spoil us kids. She was always kind and gentle and still makes me laugh when I think back to her always calling us "little shits." hahaha. (Thanks for that memory Grandma.) She loved to "play with" our backs to make us go to sleep and run her fingers through our hair. She would sing to us and loved to watch the little grandkids run around her condo terrorizing it with all it's breakables that she still had. I remember those things being there when I was a kid. It's hard to believe how fast time flys. Grandma always knew what was going on and always had advise to give... even if you didn't want to hear it. I wish I would have heeded her advise more carefully at times. It was always right on the money.

My Grandmother was a strong woman. She survived breast cancer and then cancer in her shoulder and always kept her head up. I remember her loving Grandpa so much and it hurting her to have to see him go through the pain and different things that happened when he was in the nursing home. She loved her husband so much. I hope to be able to find a glimpse of that love that she had for that man. Grandpa Waggoner treated her so well and even though he wasn't by the letter-if-the-law our "biological" grandfather, you can guarentee that we didn't know that or care. He was by every account in our books our Grandpa and we loved him greatly. They together were an unbroken force that constantly knocked me off my feet when I thought about them and their love, which continues to happen even now. I think that they were made for eachother and predestined to live out their lives enjoying one anothers love and company. May we find comfort in the time that we have left without them here to guide us and enlighten us anymore.

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Waggoner. You were the best grandparents a kid could ask for or dream of having. You were such amazing examples, and I will never forget you or your passion for family, the gospel, and life. God Bless You Till We Meet Again. I love you both, always.