Reflections on Grandma Elizabeth

51 years ago, this day, we received word that Grandma Elizabeth had passed away to a life hereafter. She was 84.

I recall that evening as vividly as if it were yesterday. The Moon was full. It was a soft summer's evening. I stood on the porch of the old the old house, leaning on the porch rail and looking at the full moon.

I reflected on Grandma Elizabeth, just as I do now. She was a hearty, farmer's wife, who bore 14 children. A quiet, steadfast, humble woman who always had a pot of soup on the old stove. The salt of the earth.

In her last years, she would ask me to take her for a walk through the woods to visit the old house. Her gait was slow, but her hand was warm in mine. We never said much. The sun was warm and the oak woods filled with the songs of birds. Butterflies and bees were at work on the wild flowers. We would stop and pick some blackberries from the rambling brambles.

Time has not dimmed those memories. Grandma Elizabeth and those walks helped shape my views of what is truly important in this life -if only we will slow down and savor the simple beauties of nature that come our way each day and if only we can recognize that much can be communicated with few words being spoken.