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December 04 Party time!Tonight is the Girl Scout Christmas Party. I think it will be just what I need to get into the holiday spirit. Last night Emma and I had a good time shopping for drinks, table stuff, and crafts for the girls to do. We will be making two things, and ornament and a candy cane character. I hope lots of the girls come, and have a good time. I have some Christmas CDs also.
It is so strange to have missed the past two weeks of Girl Scouts! I am glad the families all understand. I will be glad to get back in the routine of it come January - tonight is the last meeting this month. December 02 In MemoryTuesday, November 27 at 11:55 a.m., my grandmother left this earth. She did not suffer, she just closed her eyes and stopped. Here is her obituary, but it doesn't seem enough to me. So here is my obituary for my grandmother. Inez Van Hyning was born April 13, 1918 as Virginia Inez Lambrecht and grew up in Tallahassee, Florida. Her parents were Virgie and Sim Lambrecht, MD. She attended Florida College for Women, later known as Florida State University. Her sophomore year of college, she married George Van Hyning, but had to hide her marriage until graduation or face expulsion from school. After her graduation they lived near the Everglades, and also spent time living in Panama City, Panama. At some point she decided her name was too long, so she legally changed it to Inez Lambrecht Van Hyning. She worked for the Air Force at Tyndell AFB in Panama City, FL as head statistician. She earned the respect and admiration of generals and held her own with any man. She and my grandfather had one child, Martha Ann, my mother. They loved traveling, and visited Mexico, Europe, and many US states as a family. Although my grandfather died in 1987, she never considered remarrying - she always told me "there is only one George Van Hyning." She continued to live in Panama City, although she spent her summers here in Tennessee at the vacation cabin they built in 1978. She was the best Mema anyone could ever ask for. She played with me, taught me card games, ironing, and cooking. We spent so much time together my entire life that I will always treasure. Mema, my mother, and I traveled all over in the summers, visiting many states. She would research everywhere on our route, and find interesting places to stop. And if at all possible, we visited the capitol of the states we passed through. Once my daughter was born (three days before Mema's 80th birthday) she joined right in and we became a foursome, doing many things together - lunching, shopping, traveling, or visiting. Mema has always been more than a grandmother to me, she's been one of my closest friends also. I have always been able to talk to her about anything, and while we have disagreed on some subjects, we could see each other's views also and work it out easily. One memory I will always have that really symbolizes our relationship is when I became pregnant with Emma. My husband and I were engaged, but not yet married. I was so upset when I found out, only because I was worried about what she'd think of me. The thought that I'd disappointed her was more than I could bear. By that time she had lost most of her vision because of macular degeneration, and I did a lot of driving for her, whenever I could. One day we were returning to her house, and she stopped me as we were walking in, and said "Do you love this young man? Do you really want to marry him?" She gave me the opportunity to live with her in Panama City until the baby was born and take care of me, and find a home for the baby if it was not what I wanted. She never judged me or criticized me, she only offered me a way out if I needed it. I reassured her that I did want to marry him, that the baby came after the engagement, not the other way around, and she accepted her grandson-in-law into the family with open arms, and they also became great friends. She loved sports, especially Atlanta Braves baseball and FSU and UT football. She and my husband had a tradition of once a year going to Atlanta to watch the Braves play his home team, the Chicago Cubs. They had a friendly rivalry between them and enjoyed their sports greatly. I still can't believe I will never hear her laugh again, or call and ask "what time is the game on?" or play cards with her, or have lunch with her, or go shopping with her, or call her up for a chat, or be hugged by her again. The moments I realize this are so painful still I don't know what I am going to do without her. Even though I am now an adult myself, I think I really always believed that Mema was magic, she'd live forever. While logically I knew that wasn't possible, my heart always held that belief. I am so grateful that I made time to be with her the last couple months of her life. Even though she knew her body was failing, though, she still tried to take care of me. I will treasure every moment I have spent with her my whole life. I also treasure her last words to me - "I love you." I love you too, Mema, and I miss you terribly. |
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