She was such a sweet lady and so loving to everyone around her. I have to say though I know my Zach was her favorite. (but how could he not be) The room could be filled with family all around her and she'd single out Zach to come and talk to her, calling him her Zachie-Poo. Even over the last few weeks when she was beyond much comforting she was always a little more calm knowing her Zach was right next to her. Watching this bond between Grandmother and Grandson has been such a blessing to me. I miss my grandparents terribly so to marry into a family of such strong ties has brought me so much joy. Grandma has always been such a spunky and loving lady. From the first day I met her she has always greeted me with a huge smile and comes up with the funniest things that keep all of us in stitches. Every Sunday the whole family meets at Grandma's house to visit and catch up. We visit for about an hour or so then everyone goes on their way and meets up again next week. Zach and I hadn't been dating very long when I was invited to join them at Grandma's house. Boy was I in for a real treat! The moment I walked in, Nancy comes walking over with her cane and sits down by me and says "I'm Nancy, I'm the leader of this Pack, you need to know me". Then she proceeded to tell me the story I would soon have memorized. "I'm from Las Vegas and I was born on the 4th of July". This was her story for everyone and anyone that would listen. She was so proud of where she came from and wanted everyone to know.
My heart is heavy today as we prepare to say goodbye to Grandma Van Houten and I wish there were words that could soften the heartache this brings. I'm so grateful for my knowledge of eternal families and the blessing that provides us in these times of grief. I wish I could bottle up the tender mercies we've experienced over the last several weeks and keep them close to our hearts and minds forever.
This picture to me is priceless. It was taken just 10 days ago on the 16th. Zach and I have been going to visit Grandma every night for the past few weeks and some days have been really rough and some have been really good. This particular day Grandma was bright eyed and in a great mood. She was fully coherent and joking with us which we hadn't seen in a really long time. So Zach offered to play her some music which has always been one of her favorite things and he's always so willing to comply. She will hum or sing along to the tune and when she was stronger she'd usually be leading the music from her chair. So I moved to the seat right next to her bed so Zach could be at the piano. When I look over I see her beautiful smile beaming at me. I hurried to snap the picture knowing everyone else would like to see this rare moment. I wish my hand wasn't in the way but her face says it all. She sure loves her Zachie-Poo and he has a rare gift in his music that makes her heart smile.
We have a huge void in our lives without Grandma but we know we will all be together one day. Please give our baby girl lots of loving before you send her to our family. We love you Grandma!
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