Nana

 (Nana and Papa with Emilea, Mike, Abbie, Kaylea and Amos. At Stephen and Mary Anne's wedding and the day we found out about June)

Mama became Nana on March 6th, 2001. Her long-awaited first grandchild was Emilea Anne. Mama LOVED being Nana and I think that she was the best Nana there could be. She made everything so much fun for her grandkids. She always tried to be there for their important little milestones. She was there for their births, their first birthdays and every little thing she could make it to. She tried to go to ball games, recitals, birthday parties, preschool and Kindergarten graduations. Her grandchildren loved her so much! The oldest three, Emi, Mike and Abbie, are having a really hard time. They miss her so much! My heart hurts for their little heartbreaks. They miss her every day too. Even though none of them lived near her they talked to her on the phone or skyped her as much as they could. They also knew that if they had something cool going on, that Nana would try her best to be there for them.

 (Emilea, Abbie and Mike with treasure from one of Nana's scavenger hunts)

Mama had three grandbabies under two when she died. Kaylea and Amos were about a year and a half and June would be born two months later. The older ones are sad that Kaylea and Amos won't have the memories that they did with Nana. I'm sad a lot for myself because I miss her so much, but sometimes I am just sad that Emi, Mike, Abbie, Kaylea, Amos and June didn't get more time with her. I wish I could have had more than my 32 years with her, but they had such a short amount of time! It's not fair! I know that life is not fair all the time, but this is really hard. It makes me REALLY sad that Mama won't be there for me when I have babies. My babies won't know their Nana, and that breaks my heart too. There is so much sadness with her death. We pray all the time for comfort. I know that she lived her life so that she could be with God in eternity. It does bring comfort to know that. It helps a lot actually. I don't know how I would be now if I didn't think that she was with Him.