Good bye Grandma Sam...

Chris' maternal Grandma passed away early this morning. She was 89 years old.

I'll write more later.

Here is a picture of her, holding Justin when he was only a couple of months old. He (and Ashleigh) are two of her many great-grandchildren. And when I say many, I mean 70 plus!

We'll miss you Grandma Sam, but thankful that you are not suffering anymore...

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Added at 7:55p.m.

Grandma Sam is holding Ashleigh in February 2005 and visiting with me. Isn't Ashleigh cute in that hat?







Grandma Sam holding Ashleigh. I think she was just a couple months old, maybe 6 weeks?









To the right, Justin joined the picture. Wow, time flies...

I am so glad we got these pictures and lived close at the time that Justin and Ashleigh were just little. It would be nice if we still lived close, but it seems so precious that she got to hold them as babes.

I'm trying to put all of this in the right order, but my brain is all over the place, so just try to follow along ;0)


So Grandma Sam is short for Grandma Samuelson (her last name). Her first name was Dora, Dora Thorne. I always thought that was an interesting middle name, Thorne ;0) I just found out that her name came from a book that her mom read when she was pregnant with her. The book was either called "Dora Thorne, or there was a character named that.

I met Grandma Sam in the fall/winter 1995, just after meeting Chris. I actually still remember first meeting her. I don't remember all what we talked about, but I just remember where we were and who was there.

When Chris and I were first married, we'd go to visit Grandma Sam when she lived on her own. I have fond memories of playing Scrabble with her. She was good at it! I'd question her on many words and look them up and she'd be right ;0) Later on in life, when she went to live with Chris' aunt, we'd visit her there as well and again, many games of scrabble. I remember we'd drink Pepsi and play Scrabble and nibble on some cookies or treats or something.

Once Justin and Ashleigh were born, there weren't many Scrabble games played, but we'd still visit.

I am really glad I spent the time that I did with Chris' Grandma. We made memories. She was quite frail in her last couple of years and unfortunately, that is probably how Justin and Ashleigh will remember her.

In 2009, we attended a Family Reunion for Chris' mom's side of the family. All 10 of Grandma Sam's children were there. I often wonder how often that happened?

The last time we saw Grandma Sam was almost a year ago, at the beginning of December 2010. We are very grateful for that visit as we kind of thought it might be our last, and it was.

Oh, one last thing. I do remember Grandma Sam's 80th Birthday Party. Someone had put up a banner that read, "Happy Birthday Baby Girl Wilson!" Wilson was her maiden name and her birth certificate never had her name on it, just "Baby Girl Wilson".

What about Grandpa Sam? Well, I think he passed away in 1994, before I met Chris. In his childhood, Chris went fishing with him.
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added November 29th....a beautiful sunset that I took with my phone, just after picking the kids up from school, and telling them about Grandma Sam's passing. I think it was their idea to take the picture and I forget their exact words, but it was really cute how they related it to Grandma Sam.