Remembering Grandma Alice

The beginning of April brought a loss to the Shoemaker side of my family, My grandma Alice went to be with her true love, my grandpa Jack in heaven on April the 9th. We were all deeply saddened but grateful at the same  time that she was no longer trapped inside the body that had kept her down for so long. 

My mom called on Monday and said hospice had notified she and my uncle Jim that they thought the day was coming, on Wednesday afternoon I drove myself to Sedalia to be with her. My mother, cousin Whitney and I were with her around five pm when her breathing seemed to change. We said the Lord's Prayer and sang the first and third verses of Amazing Grace and watched as a our beloved slipped off.

For me personally, it was one of the most powerful moments of my life, I was her name sake and our bond was a strong one. She taught me more lessons over our time together than I will ever be able to recall. My memories of her will always shine strong.

We all gathered in Sedalia on Friday of that week to celebrate her life. For dinner that night we rented out a special room at the Hotel Bothwell. My grandparents met there, in the cocktail lounge, while my grandmother was on a date with another man in the 40's. We laughed, told stories, and toasted the incredible legacy she left behind.

Saturday morning we traveled to Windsor Missouri where she was laid to rest in a small, family only, graveside memorial. It was a warm and sunny day - perfect actually. After the service, back to Sedalia for lunch at the country club on the patio. Soups and Sandwiches, and her favorite dessert - hot fudge sundaes. The kids played and the adults remaniced. It was as close to a perfect weekend as you could get. 

Some of my favorite, 

most recent pictures of my Grandma Alice.