My Grandma Joy

Here are some thoughts about my Grandma.

On August 12, My paternal grandmother, Joy Bateman Wixom Samson, died. She was 95 and had lived a full life of family, work, travel and love. She was an important and positive influence in my life, and while I am sad I won't see her again in this life, it's hard to be TOO sad when a tired 95-year old woman who has done all the things and is suffering from pain and sickness dies. I am honestly more happy for her than I am sad for myself. Truly. Her life is a great example of what I believe life is all about--learning, experiencing, helping others, trying, making mistakes, having messy problems, doing fun things, loving people, never giving up, etc. I don't romanticize her as a perfect person, but instead I love her for her example of a real woman in action. She showed me that it's possible to keep on going in the face of hard things, and to laugh and sing along the way. That is invaluable to me. I am grateful you are my Grandma.

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52 Stories: I Always Go Back To...Arizona

I found these loose photos of a trip we took over Thanksgiving break, 2004. We flew into Phoenix and spent a day at my brother's place. It was warm enough to swim. Then we headed north to ride the Verde Canyon Railroad, visit Tuzigoot National Monument, and stay a couple of days in Flagstaff. It was not warm enough to swim up north, and Eric remembers how he would have preferred to stay in the warm south, since that is why one goes to Arizona in the wintertime. We spent time with my grandparents, then went south again, all the way to Tucson, and had Thanksgiving with my little sis before heading home. It turned out to be the last time I would see my darling Grandpa Bob before he died the following spring

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