Last Day in Iowa

Today was our last day in Iowa (sniff-sniff). I watched 3 of the 5 kids in the morning so Jeff could go to work, while Amy, Jenna and Madison went to volleyball camp. We went to my mom and dad's in the afternoon and also went to see my grandma in Wellman. The above is a picture of Quinn giving his great-grandma a picture that he drew for her of an airplane (what else?). See below for more pictures. One is of my great aunt Lydia coming down for a visit. My grandma lives in assisted living and aunt Lydia lives in the dependent side of the nursing home. They don't get to see each other much. Aunt Lydia is like another grandma to me. My grandpa passed away when I was a baby. She moved in with my grandma and so I've pretty much had 2 grandma's on that side of the family. My grandma told Amy and I that she misses being able to read. She has Parkinson's and holding a book up and getting the pages turned is a task that we all take for granted. Amy had a great idea. She will be reading to her class every day in school for 15 minutes. She is going to tape the books being read out loud at that time and then send them to Grandma. Isn't that a good idea? We could do that at home too. Grandma said she didn't care if they were 4th grade level books. Ha! : )

Grandma and me

Great Grandma, Mikayla, Haley, Madison, Quinn and Jenna

My mom is on the far left, my Great Aunt Lydia (97) and

my Grandma Dortha (92)

Tonight it was more 4-wheeler rides and pony rides. Mom made funnel cakes with apple pie filling as a special treat and we had another Cubs party. This time they are winning! FINALLY! Tomorrow we are leaving here at 9:30am to head to Kansas City, MO to the airport to pick up Tony in the afternoon. It's a 5 hour drive. We all can't wait to see him. He sent me an email from work at 10:15pm tonight. I think all he did this week was work, work and more work.

I'm not sure if I'll have access to easy Internet use at Lake Doniphan so I may not get to update as often. Tomorrow we're on to the Vander Werf family reunion!

Aunt Lydia 1/4/1910 ~ 6/23/2008

My great aunt Lydia passed away during the night. The Iowa nursing home called at 2:20am (I was afraid to answer the phone at that hour!) and again at 3:20am. She peacefully passed at 3am. The nurse assured me that they were doing everything to make her comfortable. Of course I couldn't sleep for a few hours! Mom and Dad were here and that's why they were calling here. Dad is the POA. Mom and Dad were going to stay until Monday but they left this morning instead, lots of things to do back home, and they wanted to go and tell my grandma personally this afternoon after they got there.


Aunt Lydia was a kind, sweet and gentle woman. She never married and she moved in with Grandma in the 70's (I think). It was pretty much like having 2 grandmas in that home. She was 98 and hasn't had much of a quality of life for many years now... mostly blind and deaf. My head tells me not to be sad, she is in a much better place in heaven now, her suffering has ended and her body is renewed. Today was her heavenly birth day and what a day of rejoicing they must be having today in heaven! My heart feels sad though. A chapter closing. She's ALWAYS been there. The circle of life is natural but painful too. I can't wish her back and I don't. She has finally finished the long race and she has won her prize. I consoled myself with this and didn't even feel any tears until the song/skit of "Come to Jesus" this morning at church. Wow. What timing.


The funeral will be Wednesday in Iowa. I'm planning on leaving early Wednesday morning right now. When you are 98 you don't have many friends left; and she never had her own family, we were her family. Everyone needs someone to grieve for them... for the loss of them. I need to be there with her neices/nephew and the greats and great-greats to remember her life.


A few words to describe my Aunt "Lydi"

Scrabble and dominoes
Chicken Gumbo over rice
Black tie shoes with a little heel

She helped me sew a wrap-around skirt for my 4H project. I have her sewing machine and stand (although the machine no longer works).
She taught me how to do embroidery. (I made tea towels for Amy for Christmas, with her embroidery floss).
Smooth dewy skin


Aunt Lydia has always been part of my life. I will still carry her with me in my heart.

Joy amidst sadness

Yesterday morning Madison and I left for Iowa about 7am. Aunt Lydia's funeral started at 2pm so we drove straight to Wellman for the viewing and changed our clothes there. It was so nice to see some extended family that we haven't seen in a long time. The picture in the top left is of the 5 first cousins that were there...from Iowa, Indiana, Kansas and Colorado! We picked up right where we left off and shared plenty of laughter amidst some tears. Walking up to the funeral home, Madison said she couldn't wait to see if she was finally taller than her great aunts... and wondered if they would have a heel on their shoe to give them the edge. Aunt Neva and Aunt Fern were good sports and took their shoes off at the luncheon so Madison could measure up. We decided that Madison has both of them now... at least by a hair or two. Boy, was she delighted. My dad's side of the family is not known for their tall statures!

*

The funeral itself was very nice. There were probably 40 people there... that was quite a bit more than what I was expecting. When you are 98 and have been in a nursing home for 10-15 years, you don't have a lot of friends to come any more. Actually we were delighted with how many came. I loved it when these little old ladies held my hand and told me a story about what they remembered about Aunt Lydia. Mostly from the sewing circle at church... and one woman even remembered the family's butcher shop where she worked. (She was pretty ancient herself). Penny read scripture and prayed. I gave a tribute; basically memories from my growing up years. My brother-in-law, Jeff,gave the devotional and did a great job. He put on his comforting pastor voice and it worked. Amy, Jenna, Mikayla, Haley and Madison sang Chris Tomlin's Amazing Grace version. Jenna played the guitar and they were awesome! (Some fast practicing once Madison arrived). These were the great-great neices... who also knew Aunt Lydia... although sadly her spry and healthy years aren't part of their memories. It was a simple and yet beautiful service. One of the quilts that she made draped the top of the casket. My mom had a little angel figurine sitting inside the lid of the casket. It was a momento for my grandma to keep. Her wings will glow at night. My mom thought of every thing. She arranged for a wheelchair van for Grandma which even took her out to the cemetary. Mom, you did such a great job. My work sent a beautiful planter with flowers and a beautiful card that made me cry. They are so thoughtful and I know their words come from the heart as Christian sisters. My own grandma has been on my heart and mind so much these past few days. This was her last sibling to pass away and surely the sister she was the closest too. Thank you all very much for your prayers this week.

*

We helped a little with the moving process for Amy & Jeff's family last night and Madison and I stayed overnight there. We got to go and tour their new house. It is BEAUTIFUL!! It's neat to see all of their plans on paper, actually coming together in real life. They've done a great job and I'm happy for them. They hope to actually spend their first night there some time next week. Their house is sold and the closing is July 11 so they have some time.

*

We didn't get to stay even 24 hours but it was definitely worth the trip! We brought home a surprise though... Jenna came back with us. It's going to work out afterall for her to go to camp next week with Madison. We are tickled to have her here! They are like 2 peas in a pod and will love spending the next 10 days together! Thank you Amy & Jeff for sharing her with us!