Melancholy Year End

It's been a good Advent and into Christmas, all told. Things went well on Christmas Eve, to the point of an unexpected applause after the sermon. Caught me off guard to be sure. The past few days since have been reasonably good, catching up with friends talking to family on the phone. But then there was tonight's phone call from my Dad...

My Grandmother, Ina Crowdis (nee Ripley) died tonight at 86 years old in St. John New Brunswick. My last surviving grandparent, and really the only one I've had for the past 16 years. It wasn't a complete surprise, given that she was in hospital with sepsis, which is very serious. She died while my aunt was feeding her supper... Strawberries. Kinda fitting really.

I'm glad we made the trip this past summer to see her, and so that she could meet Megan. The picture of me to the left of this blog entry was cropped out of a larger picture that included her, Megan, my Dad and myself in a four-generation picture that we won't get the chance to do again. She won't be buried until the spring, as she's being cremated... so I won't be heading back out east until those arrangements are finalized.

We'll miss you Nana. Go with God... it's time to rest.