My Grandma, Joyce

My grandma was a stunning woman!  Would you just look at her gorgeous peaches-and-cream complexion, her dreamy sweater, and the fact that she's wearing pearls?!  She is absolutely lovely.  Flawless.  Ethereal.  This picture of her takes my breath away for a couple of reasons:

*There is a luminosity in her face and her eyes that I believe is reflective of her inner beauty.  She had admirable strength of character and a compassionate heart.  She loved unconditionally and served others selflessly.  She was a woman of faith.

*It has been years since I have sat at her kitchen table or felt her soft embrace.  It feels as though it has been an immeasurable passage of time since I last heard her say, "I love you, sweetheart."  It makes my heart ache.

I celebrate her this month--the life she lived, the woman she was, the exceptional example of motherhood she has been for me.  She loved her children.  She raised them well.  She taught them moral values.  I'm certain her heart filled with "mother's pride" over their various accomplishments and successes; equally, it broke for them when they suffered discouragement and despair.

She endured monumental trials in her lifetime.  She courageously buried her young adult son; facing a crime against the laws of nature with a bravery I'm not able to comprehend.  She battled cancer with warrior-like will and strength, only to have it return with a vengeance and ravage her body years later.  Admirably, she remained gracious and stalwart.  She died surrounded by the people who mattered the most to her.  Her children.

One of my favorite quotes, by the exemplary Mother Theresa, reminds me of my grandma and her goodness:  "People are often unreasonable and self-centered.  Forgive them anyway.  If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives.  Be kind anyway.  If you are honest, people may cheat you.  Be honest anyway.  If you find happiness, people may be jealous.  Be happy anyway.  The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow.  Do good anyway.  Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough.  Give your best anyway.  For you see, in the end, it is between you and God.  It was never between you and them anyway."

Happy Mother's Day to one of the greatest mothers I've had the privilege of knowing...my grandma, Joyce.