Early in October my Grandma finally passed away. I know it sounds heartless to write "finally", but for her sake that really is the best way to express it. My sweet grandma has been a single woman for a very long time, and has longed to be with her sweetheart. I am so very happy for her that she was finally able to move on from this life to the next. Even though her body has been in rather good health for the last few years, her mind has not. So these last few years I'm sure have been particularly hard on her, as well as those around her who've had to see her struggle. I love my Grandma so much. My freshman year of college I lived in her basement, and so I feel I had a particularly special bond with her. I'm truly just happy for her. For the most part I think our whole extended family is too. So her funeral seemed in some ways more like a celebration than a somber occasion.
I love that the University donated this beautiful flower arrangement! I'm proud that I was able to attend my first year of college at USU on the "Ruth Eyre" scholarship. I am grateful my Grandma valued education so much, and that she loved children so much. I'm sure much of my love of children comes from her blood.
Grandma was in the same graduating class from Logan High as Elder L. Tom Perry. They were good friends. I loved attending homecoming parades with my grandma at USU and getting to chat with Elder Perry and his wife there, which somehow happened a couple of times!
I love these two portraits done of my Grandpa and Grandma. They always hung in my Grandma's TV room.
It was clear at all times that my Grandma was truly devoted to her Grandchildren. We were what she spent all her time on as far as I was ever aware! "My heart belongs to Grandma Ruthie" was something we all said often growing up. This portrait was from a family reunion when I was 5 years old at my cousins' house in California.
So happy to finally have these two side by side. My grandpa passed away on my dad's 7th birthday. So my grandma was without him for 53 1/2 years. That's a long time!
My grandma was a dancer, and a very good one at that. I'm sure she longed to dance with my grandpa, and I can imagine them dancing together now! She's on the left in this picture.
Here she is at the Joy School, which she started and ran for many years. She wrote the curriculum for Joy School, and even let us grandkids help her there whenever we were in town. When I was in college I got to teach a few times as well.
I absolutely love and adore my Eyre cousins. We have always been pretty tight knit - thanks to my Grandma and our parents' efforts to make sure we got plenty of time together. I would not be the person I am today without them. It makes me tear up just thinking about them. I am so grateful to be part of such an amazing group of people. Every one of them! We were all able to make it to the funeral, except for my cousin Aaron. We missed him. Somehow my cousin Patrick is not in these pictures either, but oh how I love those two! I think my Grandma came up with a pretty good posterity!
We spent the evening in Grandma's living room chatting about old times, sharing stories and memories. We talked a lot about the Joy School, and how she taught us all to work hard. She would have us help her in her garden, picking green beans and apples. We all loved her "pink" applesauce that was pressed with the peels still on to get all the good flavor and nutrients from them. We mostly all despised her only ever using powdered milk. She taught us how to properly ring out the dishcloth, and to only get out one thing at a time. Afterwards we each inherited one of her cherished wooden puzzles which she made. They all still had every single piece, until my cousin managed to lose one within a few minutes of walking out the door.
This is the view that always said "Grandma's house" to me, as she lived right below Old Main Hill.
I love these men.
So grateful to be a part of this family! So grateful for my wonderful Grandmother. Mostly I'm grateful that she gets to be with her sweetheart, and grateful for her example of devotion to my Grandpa!
Thank you to my dear cousin
Shawni for all the wonderful pictures I stole from your blog!
