Granny, as we call her, was an amazing person. She lived to be 90 years old and was a blessing to everyone's life that she crossed.
Despite being nearly crippled with arthritis, she lived on her own until the very end and refused to come near a wheelchair. Even in
pain, she was always smiling and had an incredible and positive outlook on life. She survived cancer twice, including breast cancer,
and in times before medicine was as good as it was today. She outlived her husband John Wallace Sturgill by almost 20 years,
and she was one of the kindest, yet toughest people that I have ever met. She saw 90 years of history, including wars, prohibition,
the first automobiles in her town, and was the last remaining of 10 brothers and sisters. She knew about hard times and losses
of family, but it never changed her warm and giving heart. She had 10 grandchildren, I was the favorite of course [grin], 16 great
grandchildren, and 7 great-great grandchildren....all of which she loved more than anything.
Granny played a huge part in who I am today. She taught me the names of the flowers, and more importantly, to take time out of
a busy life to look at them. She had a live-in-the-moment happiness that would rival any Taoist and she showed me that there were more
important things in life than running to make money, like taking the time to watch the birds outside, stopping to scratch a cats head,
and watching the squirrels play. Despite being able to barely walk, she raised food in her garden and had the most flowers on her
street. Most of her money went to feed the birds in her yard, and her family every chance that she got. She loved to cook, and
would fix mountain food that would leave your tongue twisting in delight and your arteries twisting in pain. She made cookies that
were famous both with family and strangers, and she loved to take care of people.
She passed away when I was in the Netherlands, so I did not get to tell her goodbye. By a miracle, I was able to make the funeral though.
She was always the first person that I visited when I came home between journeys, and its a strange feeling being in the US and knowing
that she is not just a 5 minute drive away. She practically helped raise me when I was young, so we were quite close. I know that old people
pass on, especially ones that are 90 years old, but Granny was special and the world just got a little darker without her smile.
