Grandpa Root

Grandpa Root

He was frequently mistaken for Santa Claus, especially if he wore red around Christmas time. It wasn't just his white beard, but moreso his warm smile and rosy red cheeks. And he played into it! He had his own Santa Claus outfit and wore it when he visited my aunt's kindergarten class. He was a jolly Santa.

He always gave us candy. My favorite part about visiting grandma and grandpa's house was that they had a candy jar on the mantle, and he'd always sneak us a handful when mom wasn't looking.

He was a transplanted cowboy - not native to Texas but you'd never know it, given his attire! When I picture him, I see cowboy boots and a cowboy hat.

Grandpa loved God, deeply. He always led our prayers before dinner, and he spoke with great love and respect to his heavenly Father. He'd also grow increasingly soft so that near the end of the prayer, none of us could hear a word he was saying! We'd smile at each other and wait for his cue that he was done.

Grandpa was deaf. He started to lose his hearing as a young boy and had to wear those big hearing aides that would hang around his neck. As he aged, technology improved and the hearing aides became more manageable, as his hearing became worse. He had a tough life, physically. A series of several strokes left him dependent on a cane and completely deaf. He wore a little sign that said "I am deaf" so that people wouldn't be offended when he didn't know to respond. He was always very considerate of the feelings of others.

Grandpa made awesome spaghetti. If part of his soul wanted to be a cowboy, the part that was left wanted to be Italian. :)

Grandpa was diagnosed with lung cancer in May 2008, shortly after having a patch of skin cancer removed from his forehead. He was a fighter. And, up until a couple of weeks ago, he looked great and seemed to be winning the fight. I saw him on Wednesday, right after Grandma Bynum's funeral, just after he had been moved out of ICU. It was indescribably difficult to see him so frail and in pain, despite the pain meds. He made eye contact with me and I held his skinny, cold hand. The following day, they took him home for hospice care and less than 48 hours later, he stopped breathing. I am so thankful that he's not in pain anymore.... breathing shouldn't be painful. Living shouldn't be painful. I know he's in heaven, no longer limited by his failing body.

Grandpa was 83 years old, and just this past July celebrated his 61st anniversary in Vegas with my Grandma. She's not going to know what to do without him. Even when he was sick, he always took care of her. Prayers for Grandma Root are appreciated. Their song was Unchained Melody.

We could also use prayers for my parents. They've each lost a parent within 7 days of each other. So far, I'm not too impressed with 2009.

Grandpa donated his body to science, in honor of his daughter Cozette, who died in her early 20s after waiting too long for a kidney. We'll be heading back to Houston this weekend for the memorial service.

Goodbye, Grandpa. I love you.

When Grandpa first met Aubrey, he wasn't feeling well and didn't yet know that it was cancer, so he thought he had pneumonia. He didn't hold Aubrey because he didn't want her to catch it. April 12, 2008

August 31, 2008

November 15, 2008, at Aubrey's Birthday Party

Doesn't he have a kind face? Even though he was sick. I'm telling you, he was the best Santa...

Grandma Bynum

Grandma Bynum

She always signed her letters "O.W." and said that started because of me, though I don't remember. The way she told it, everyone referred to my Grandpa (died in 1979, I think) as "Old Man" and when I asked who "Old Man" was, she said "My husband!" So I answered "So are you Old Woman?" And it stuck. Abbreviated O.W. She always made the "O" into a smiley face.

She used to make pancakes for us, shaped like Mickey Mouse or Goofy. And when she cut them for us, she'd make voices "Oh no! Don't cut off my ear! oww! Don't eat me! Argh!!!" We would laugh and laugh and laugh! She always knew how to make us happy. She treasured any piece of art or letter that we sent her, and kept a proud gallery on her frig, which extended to the wall nearby.

You couldn't tell her that she couldn't do something - she'd prove you wrong in a heartbeat. She jumped her chain-link fence on a daily basis well into her 70s. When a robber broke into her house just a few years ago, she pulled out her shotgun and kept him hiding behind a couch until the cops arrived. She became a nurse in her late 50s (early 60s?), a pilot in her early 70s. She didn't trust banks and kept an ungodly amount of cash in her bra. When my parents went out of town and left her in charge of us, she sold the car that they had on the market for months, and potty-trained my stubborn baby brother.

She never hesitated to come to San Antonio (from Houston) to spend time with us. I remember her taking care of me when mom was off having babies. She taught me how to make paperdolls and, in my memory, we made enough to cover the entire house. She was so good at coming up with games for us!

She was a photographer - ALWAYS had her camera with her! And we gave her such grief about it. Seems like she'd always interrupt us to tell us to pose and smile, and we weren't patient enough with her. So then she'd take pictures of us while we were sleeping or eating... she'd do whatever she had to in order to get pictures of us. She was diligent about writing captions on the backs of the pictures and then organizing them into chronological albums. I don't know how many albums she made, but I want to say well over 70. They'll be treasured.

She was a pack-rat. Her possessions were important to her. She labeled many things, particularly a chair that she showed me and Ken the last time we visited. She explained that her dad (or grandfather?) made the chair and that she had replaced the seat several times. She wrote it all up on an index card and stuck it to the bottom of the seat. She wanted to make sure that the legacy lived on.

She loved Aubrey. She loved me. She was a very loving person. Even though she had just gotten out of the hospital a couple of days before, she made sure to send us all Christmas gifts this year. She gave Aubrey a pink stuffed dog. And for her birthday the month before, a giant pink carebear.

I'm sad that Aubrey won't remember her. :( Just as I don't remember Grandma's husband.

But I'm so thankful Grandma met Aubrey.

And I'm so lucky to have had her for my Grandma. And that she was with us for 86 years. She was a strong, determined woman for 86 years. I was her first grandchild, and Aubrey her first great-grandchild.

I spoke to her last on Monday. She called to thank me for a calendar I sent her with pictures of Aubrey. She said during the conversation that she had a youth chair that she remembered me always sitting in.... that she wanted me to have and asked me to promise that I'd take care of it.

Goodbye, Grandma. I love you. I know you knew that.

May 2006 - with grandson Adam and son David

Christmas 2007 - proudly wearing her "Great Grandmother" shirt, with Aubrey

With her daughter-in-law Denise, my mom (and Aubrey)

August 2008 - with grandson Richard

August 2008 - with grandson Jacob, my brother

August 2008 - with son David

August 2008 - with granddaughter Lisa, my sister

I hope I look half as good in my 80s....

2008 in Review

I swiped this one from Ashley.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before? My first year as a mom!

2. Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I was so focused on and overwhelmed by being a mom, I don't think I made any resolutions. This year - more pride in myself and everything for which I'm responsible.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My all-time Best Friend, Jessica, had a baby boy in October.

4. Did anyone close to you die? Nobody close to me has died in 2008 or any other year. Yet.

5. What countries did you visit? this one. :)

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? a clean house

7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? off the top of my head.... feb4 - maternity leave ended so i had to go back to teaching and aubrey started daycare; nov15 - aubrey's first birthday party; nov20 - my first HUGE corporate event

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? oh geez am i going to end up answering every one of these questions with 'aubrey' or 'being a mom?' lesee, other than that... biggest achievement was quitting teaching!!!! alleluia, alleluia.

9. What was your biggest failure? my house is a wreck. has been all year.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? just the usual

11. What was the best thing you bought? either my macbook pro or my canon rebel xti

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? aubrey's, of course!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? i plead the fifth, as this person might see this

14. Where did most of your money go? toss-up btwn paying down credit card debt and aubrey. probably aubrey.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? duh! aubrey. lol. i was really excited about her birthday party. :)

16. What song will always remind you of 2008? itsy bitsy spider. it's her favorite.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? way happier. thank GOD those post-partum hormones level out!
ii. thinner or fatter? same
iii. richer or poorer? same

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? eating healthy, exercising, cleaning house

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? eating

20. How will you be spending Christmas? we spent it with my parents and aunt shari and uncle andy at the canyon lake house.

21. How will you be ringing in the New Year? ken assisted me with a wedding i coordinated in san antonio. my parents babysat.

22. Did you fall in love in 2008? every day.

23. Who was your hero? god is good.

24. What was your favorite TV program? favorite? hmm.... Lost, but it wasn't on much in 2008. Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone, Grey's Anatomy, The Hills....

25. What was something you needed to do and didn’t get around to? so, so, SO many things. resend a wedding gift that went to the wrong address, aubrey's baby book, keep the house clean...

26. What was the best book you read? i didn't read for enjoyment. i read books on being a mom, raising an infant.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery? who writes this stuff? musical discovery?? does the disney show 'little einsteins' count?

28. What did you want and get? macbook pro and canon rebel xti

29. What did you want and not get? honda pilot and iphone

30. What was your favorite film of this year? i don't think we saw a single movie in '08!

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? i don't remember doing anything. i turned 31.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? a full-time maid. :)

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? functional

34. What kept you sane? ken and aubrey. i love my family! :) and prayer.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? fancy? hmm... oprah, i guess?

36. What political issue stirred you the most? where's MY bailout?

37. Who did you miss? my trinity friends, now all over the world.

38. Who was the best new person you met? jennifer peura :)

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008: having a baby in the house doesn't mean sleepless nights.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: didn't i already see this question? hmmm...