Rest in Peace

We said goodbye to my Great Grandmother on Monday. At ninety-nine years old, God called her home peacefully in her sleep with her daughter (my grandma) and two of her grandchildren (my mom and uncle) at her side.

Great Grandma Martha Lanoue was a firecracker with a great sense of humor! When we were kids, we would get to go see her whenever we went to visit my mom's parents in Marshall. We would make a beeline for the etched glass candy jar that she kept stocked for us, and then we would entertain ourselves with dominos (in the winter) or paintbrushes and water (in the summer). My mom credits her with teaching her how to cook; she was famous for her slickers (kind of like dumplings) and Belgian cookies.

Years later, Grandma Lanoue was able to attend our wedding at Holy Redeemer, the same church that she and my Great Grandpa Buck were married in... along with my grandparents and my parents! She also got to meet all three of our kids, even Audrey just a few months ago.

As she got older, she did start to get a few things mixed up- she was an avid Twins fan, and she was thoroughly convinced that my mom had married pitcher Brad Radke. She sometimes didn't know what year it was, and she had been telling people she was 100 years old for about a decade. But she always knew who my mom was. Whenever we would go to visit her, she would take one look at my mom and her eyes would fill with tears. "Oh Lori!" she would say as she pulled her close.

At the wake and funeral, there were tears of course, but there was such a spirit of joy since we all knew Grandma had left behind her wheelchair and was now dancing in Heaven with Jesus. I was on the program to sing a solo during the Communion meditation, one of Grandma's favorite hymns, but the morning of the funeral my dad mentioned that maybe- just maybe- my Grandma Moorse would like to sing with me! "Ohh, no I couldn't do that!" she said. But after practicing a few times with her and my mom, we decided to make it a three-generation trio! I'm sure Great Grandma loved it!

After the funeral and reception, we all ended up at the Wooden Nickel- a local watering hole that we also visited the night before my wedding- reminiscing about the old bowling alley Grandma and Grandpa used to own, the cheap wine they used to drink, and a life well-lived by a woman well-loved.

Grandma, we will miss you, but we know you are at rest now. Max keeps telling me he can't wait to see you again when he gets to Heaven!

Grandma's 99th Birthday