Where I've been...

Dear readers (all three of you):

Last week was a very sad and very long week. On Friday morning February 20 we received the very sad news that Mark's Grandmother had passed away at the tender age of 94. We immediately went into planning mode and prepared for a road trip with the kids back to Boise to be with family and attend the services.

Mark's Grandmother was 94 years old, that seems so amazing to me. To think of the changes this woman experienced in her long and wonderful life is awe-inspiring. When asked what she thought the most amazing invention was during her lifetime, how do you think she responded? Computers? Telephone? Automobiles? Rubik's Cube? Her answer: indoor plumbing. An every day luxury we take for granted.

Someone who is 94 can remember a time when every meal was cooked from scratch, when milk was delivered by truck every day, when a ride to school meant in a buggy pulled by a horse down a very rough dirt road. They can remember black and white television and (gasp) having to get up to change the channel! They will tell you about their first telephones, and the party lines they used to have, kind of like 3-way calling only not on purpose back then.

Someone who is 94 can remember that hard work meant rolling up their sleeves and getting dirty, not sitting at a computer typing all day and going home "exhausted" from the day. They can remember the thrill of something as simple as flushing a toilet in their own home, or even having electricity and heating built INTO their home.

Someone who is 94 doesn't care about text messages or cell phones. They don't have a use for the computer. Emails just don't cut it. Good old fashioned mail with a stamp is their preferred means of communicating to loved ones far away. They can appreciate the special sweet-and-sour taste of a home made sourdough biscuit fresh from the oven, not the loaf you buy pre-made at the grocery store.

Oh how I wish we didn't take so much of our lives for granted. LaVern was the ultimate, quintessential working mother. She raised 7 children (including 2 sets of twins), cooked every meal from scratch, did everyone's laundry and never put herself first. First to rise, last to bed, she worked every day of her life for herself, her husband and her family.

When she was laid to rest last week it occurred to me that there wasn't anything bad you could say about her. She was a truly amazing woman, one that we all can aspire to be. When I am laid to rest, whenever that may be, I hope that the same things can be said of me: hard working, honest, a great mother, wonderful grandmother, generous, kind and loving. At the end of the day, isn't that what we all work for?