Remembering Jean

Today, Jean Price is being "laid to rest" as the old Southern Term goes. Buried. Earthly body place in a casket and then lowered to the ground. Macabre sounding? It is. But, that is what is happening this afternoon. HOWEVER, b/c we are Christians, we see old body "laid to rest" and NEW body for Jean in heaven.Broken vessel placed in ground and new, spiritual body free of pain and death. Jean's NEW body is present and with our Lord (thank goodness).  Funerals aren't my favorite but are ways of saying good-bye for many. I won't be able to make sweet Jean's service. I am keeping Kemp/Daisy as Nat/Brad are leaving for a planned trip to Maine. I hate I will miss the words that will be spoken about her but I am having my own "funeral" for her today through my blog. Terry and I both prayed for her this morning, praising God she is finally, healed. And, I was looking upstairs for something for the kids and lo and behold, there sat my "angel box". A box Jean made for me about 20 years ago, at least.  And made  with, get this, pieces of cardboard/ old paints and glitter and some pearls. And it's my treasure! She said she was embarrassed to give it to me and I remember how excited she was to give it to me and how excited I was. Only a few people knew how difficult it was for Jean to do anything with her left hand and yet she did it...Jean was an artist. I use that now in the past tense. 2 days ago I would'v written, Jean IS an artist.  Her art talent was cut short by a stroke in her early 50's.Left her paralyzed on one side. Her "art side".But, did that stop her? Not a chance.She just barreled forward doing what she could/ with what little she had to continue to make cards/notes, etc. for her friends and family with her "good" hand. Her left hand. AND taking care of a bedridden mother and a sister who had cancer. Oh, did I mention she had one leg?? Yes, she lost a leg ,too from complications with the stroke/diabetes, etc. Just reading that reminds me that only one word could accurately describe jean: Tenacity!!!! coupled with perserverance! ....About 3 years ago she had another great setback--problems with UTI's (which is what eventually led to her death). She would go to the hospital for days at a time. The last one was so bad that she was unable to stay alone anymore and  she was sent to a nursing home. As luck, no as GOD would have it, the same place Mimi is living. Golden Living Nursing Home in Trussville. So, it was great b/c I felt like we were still neighbors in a way. (FYI, Jean was our next door neighbor growing up)! Strange how that worked out....! Such a "God thing" as I reflect. Neighbors for YEARS and ended up still being Mimi's "neighbor"!

Jean had an incredible wit. She was so funny and loved jokes. DIRTY jokes were her fav. Made me laugh all the time. And , until she got to where it was harder and harder for her to speak clearly, we used to enjoy talking: CRAFTS. She loved crafts. I sent her a huge box full of some of my scrapbook items one day and she said she had to get 2 people to lift the box and bring it into her little assisted living apartment (that she was living in, at the time). She loved it. I loved sharing them with her b/c she was soooo talented and she could make something out of  nothing!!! Here are a few pix of some of the things Jean made for me and some notes (so you can see her humor!) when she was still living with her mother/sister in East Lake (our old neighborhood)! Also going to post what I sent to Sally Alloca (preacher at ELUMC) when asked for some stories about Jean to share for today's funeral. What I wrote that I sent Sally, followed by the pix of some of my treasures of notes I saved. (See, FRY KIDS, why I love SAVING everything?????).... Maybe you can see the TINIEST spark of who Jean was, even if you had never met her. I could never even begin to try and encapsulate Jean's life and cannot and it wouldn't be fair for me to do so. All I know is what she was to me. And sharing that with you, for it's only fitting, if  you haven't met her, to see  a "smidgen" of what an incredible person she was , despite the hard times and the "cards that were dealt" her in this life. May we all learn from her perseverance and tenacity and FAITH.......*rest in peace my dear funny and loving and scrapbooking friend. can't wait to "crop and cut" in heaven with you!

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My memories of Jean are from our neighborhood days. We lived right next door to the Bodines. At age 16,    Jean won an award for a beautiful painting of a boy and a wagon, and  it was even on the front of the B'ham News.( She took after her dad, also an artist, made beautiful paintings!!)! (Mrs. Bodine loved to tell the story to people that when I first saw the painting, I was around 6) I asked "is this PAINT BY NUMBER?"! NO! HAHA! Jean thought that was so funny! It was gorgeous. Such a talent!!!!  it was lovely and I wish I knew where the painting was, I would love to have it. It was almost "art lost" because Jean suffered a terrible stroke in her early 50's that paralyzed her left side. AND her "painting hand".  For most people, they would stop and never pick up a paintbrush again. In fact, most people would've complained and given up. Did that stop our girl? NO! She continued to painstakingly paint and do calligraphy with her left hand. It would take her hours to address an envelope but she would do it. That's our Jean. She never stopped being creative/ loving and funny! Her WIT set her apart. She loved jokes and could remember them and would get so tickled  ( & would laugh before the punch line) and so would everyone who heard it, too, because, well, being with Jean was just like being with sunshine and she would bring everyone to laughter. She brightened up the darkest of rooms and places. Her eyes held so much sparkle, when she was having trouble speaking, she would look at you with those imploring eyes and you just understood. You understood the pain but you also understood that she was going on with perseverance. Perseverance most people cannot understand. How she did it, I don't know. Well, yes i DO know. She had a deep faith and it was this very faith that kept her smiling her crooked smile/ making people feel good / saying "thank you, baby" to everyone and just continuing to use the gifts God gave her to the very end. She is a "case in point" of one who fulfilled their calling, despite everything that happened in her life. She was an inspiration and a joy. And I count myself blessed that I could be called her friend. Until we meet again and until that time, I will try hard to carry on her positive legacy of faith/laughter and love. 

     Think I don't treasure these special notes and Angel Box?

Early summer musings

Has it really been since DECEMBER since I've blogged??? WHHHHHAT??? Me, the quintessential blogger? Well, guess I must fix that. HA! Time to get back to my blogging. My writing. My calling. I think one reason I put off blogging was b/c I have been in limbo , waiting to hear if  my WRITING would be published. I posted off a whole packet of my heart/soul in January to an editor. And , before you ask, NO, I haven't heard back. Well, SORT of. Still reviewing. But, no matter what the response, I'm not going to let that stop my writing. I can still write, even if it's not in book form! It's part of the call on my life. Plain and simple. I know it. I feel it. I live it....

I've written since before I COULD write. I wrote a "book" with pictures. My first un-published work. Wait a minute, except for an entry into a Methodist collection of stories, I'm STILL un-published. HA! Oh well, still, I write. I write and I write and I write. Just as much as I write, then I will have a season of NON writing. Where I spend time that I should be penning my thoughts, to doing other unproductive things. Like getting on FaceBook. Or shopping for something I think I must have. Or dreaming of the beach. Or an other million things that keep me away from the call I know I have. God has given me the gift of gab, no doubt. But, He has also gifted me with the gift of writing. I know that. I don't have many other gifts, if I do I haven't figured them out yet, but this one, well, I know I do. Whether it be for future "conversations" with my grandkids/greatgrands, I don't know. Maybe I want them to know me. Oh, they know me, all right. But do they REALLY know me?? GranJan who has it all together. NOT. GranJan who spoils them/loves them unconditionally and without judgement.YES. But, not perfect. Never perfect. I want them to know I struggle just as they do. Day to day struggles that , even as an old lady, come before me.  Struggles as a Christian. Struggles as a mom. Struggles as a woman. Struggles as a grandmother. Because struggles never leave us. At least they don't leave me! This GranJan who "has it all together". NOT times two. I want them to see me, not just as their old granny that is to be placated and given allowances because "she's old", that they too, can see that I still struggle with many issues they do! But, having struggles, pulls me right into God's lap squalling like, well, a 10 year old, many days.(*So, see, Kemp/Lily? I still act your age sometimes!)!  OK, the next part of this blog is for Kemp and Lily.  (now you see why I need an editor. I hop from thought to thought).....

Lily/Kemp will be starting middle school. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? Because I can remember "middle school" age, too! SO clearly. Our "middle school" was from grade 1-8 so we were still in with everyone else, but I so remember the age 10. I liked dolls still. But I also thought my little boy friends (and they were friends!) were "cute" but it seemed suddenly those same boys didn't like girls anymore. (at least for the next few years!)!. Why, I would wonder?  I felt gangly. Yeah, that's the best description. I wasn't tall (never have been) but I felt "GANGLY". Awkward. Said inappropriate things. (um, yes, I know what you're thinking ...SHE STILL DOES). But, it wasn't so "cute" anymore when I said things like I did when I was 8 or so. People just seemed to tolerate age 10 and 11 year old kids. Younger kids were so much cuter and older kids were given a bit more respect. But, at 10 or 11, well, you're just in that "middle" ground. Trying to figure out WHO you are. WHAT you should do with your summer (that's a big deal when your 10 or 11!) and HOW to figure out whether you should still play dolls (some of my friends would act appalled when they would see them on my bed) or sort of like boys (which, at that point, they still ignored girls or hated them). Such a weird time in life. A time when I would say to Mimi (*yes, remember, Kemp and Lily, Mimi is my mother! And she was young then, like YOUR mother!). GranJan would say:  "I'm BORED! What can I do today?" and nothing she suggested sounded like anything at all what I wanted to do. But what DID I want to do??? I didn't know. Trips were pretty high on the agenda, and Grand-daddy and Mimi took me on many of them, but then there was the REST of the summer!!!!! Geez! A long glorious summer ahead but again, the question: WHAT CAN  I DO TODAY??????   

An open letter  to my 10-almost 11 year old grands: KEMP AND LILY.....ENJOY YOUR SUMMER. Don't worry about always having to be DOING something.  Be a kid. Don't worry about growing up so fast. Lily, if you want to play dolls--PLAY DOLLS. Kemp, if you want to play with matchbox cars--PLAY WITH MATCHBOX CARS. It's ok!!!!!! You don't have to do whatever all the other kids do. Be yourself. Don't worry what everyone else is thinking. (they probably think you are pretty darn cool!). Be KIND. Your friends you make now might be your friends when you're as old as GranJan!!! !(yes, I still have good friends that I had when I was your age!)! Don't spend all summer on the computer (this is a sermon here), or texting or playing computer games. I want you to enjoy hanging outside eating popsicles/going barefoot (watch out for snakes and nails, tho!) and giggle a lot. Hey, this sounds corny but something I used to do with my neighborhood friends. Get your moms to save an old pasta jar / rinse it out/poke holes in the top. Now, go look for "Lightening BUGS" (I think yall call them "Fireflies" now). Put them in a jar and be amazed. These are NOT L.E.D.'s. These are created from GOD! How cool is that??????????????? Watch them fly around and light up the warm summer nights while eating popsicles and running around. It's like THE coolest thing ever. A little gift from God to 10 and 11 year olds!!!!!!!!! I promise you will love it. It will make you realize that God is all around you. Buzzing with light and giving you such awesome surprises. I think God made FIREFLIES just for your age! To remind you of Him. Yep, that's GranJan's first sermon  of the summer.....So, FRYday night, kick off your shoes---run gather up the neighborhood kids and tell them this awesome story your old grandmother told you. You'll be amazed at the fun you'll have. And let me know what happens.....
OH HOW I  Love YOU, my precious ones. God does too. He's in the glowing of the fireflies and in the glowing you're feeling towards Him in your heart. Listen/look and watch this summer. And, then, when you're REALLY bored and want something to do--- come over and sit on the porch swing  with me (I know you STILL like for me to take you "to the moon and back" as we swing) and tell me all about the good things happening in your life this summer. Cause good things are coming!