In Honor of Grandma Ruth

I have a fairly new car…it is a 2009.  I’ve never had any problems with it, however, when I was driving just me and the kids to Salt Lake on July 5th, my car went crazy on me right about Snowville, Utah.  All these dashboard lights came on and were blinking at me, and the automatic transmission would no longer shift to allow me to go faster than 50 miles/hour…on a stretch of road I usually drive 81 mph. 

I had planned to drive directly to Snowbird to be with family for a bit until I had to fly to Dallas for work, but because of the car trouble I drove straight to the dealership and had my parents pick me and the kids up.  We had about 2 hours before I could pick the car up, so we decided to go see Grandma Ruth who had finally decided, at 90 years old, that she could no longer live on her own.  She would be leaving in a few days for Blanding, Utah to live with her daughter. 

Grandma Ruth came into my life when I was about 14 years old.  She and my Grandpa were actually high school sweethearts at dear old Davis High School in the 1930’s, but lost track of each other during WWII.  They both married other people and raised families.  In the late 80’s both of their spouses died within 6 months of each other and Ray and Ruth were reunited after 50 years.  Grandpa even gave her the original engagement ring he had bought for Ruth back in the 30’s.

Her life wasn’t always easy, but you’d never know it.  She was a saint in all aspects of the word.  She looked beautiful every time you saw her…even when she wasn’t expecting anyone.  Her makeup was always done, her clothes were beautiful, and she ALWAYS wore jewelry.  She loved her jewelry.  She made my grandpa very happy.  They traveled the world from Africa to Alaska.  She took on anything and everything that came with Grandpa Ray as if it were her own, never complaining. 

Even though my Grandpa passed away more than 7 years ago, Ruth was still part of our life.  We didn’t get to see her very often, but she was great at keeping in touch via email. 

After only 14 days at her daughter’s in Blanding, Ruth passed away on July 21st.  Some people just can’t give up their independence and I think she was one of them.