Hello, everyone. My name is Brittany, and I would like to thank everyone for coming today.
Today, as we said goodbye to my Grandma, it hit me how incredibly blessed I have been to have my lovely grandmother with me for 21 years.
I didn’t have an easy life growing up. I faced many hardships. However, I knew I could always count on my grandma to help guide me. I remember every time I would come to visit she would always tell me not to lose hope, that God has a plan for me. She would always push me to work harder, let me cry on her shoulder, or have me learn a new skill to try to better my odds.
My grandparents were a large part of the reason I was able to accomplish most of the things I have done. After all, what is life without family to support you, to love you unconditionally, or to be at your side through good and through bad?
She is so much a part of who I am today that even though I knew she would one day leave us, I can’t quite believe she is gone. She impacted my life in so many ways.
My grandmother was an incredible matriarch. Really, she was the glue that held the family together.
She baked and cooked and babysat and took us shopping and took us to church camp when we were little. She was always present, part of our everyday lives in such a tangible way.
As a child, I felt very blessed because I had my grandma all the time. That constant loving presence really shapes a person. From our grandparents, we learn where we come from, we learn our history, and we learn who we are.
Until the last few weeks, my grandmother had more energy and interest in life than anyone I’ve ever known. When I was 16, my grandparents took me for a road trip to go to my cousin’s wedding.
I was so excited when she agreed to play my music in her car. I wasn’t expecting my grandma to know some of my favorite artists. But to my amazement it turned out my favorite artist was hers as well. We had a very great time singing along to Luke Combs and Sam Hunt as my grandpa drove us to Utah.
Grandma made sure I had an experience of a lifetime. We went river rafting. I was paddling as fast as I could trying to out paddle the other families that was with us. I accidentally kept splashing my grandparents (ha-ha).
Afterwards we went to a cowboy dinner. It was my first time I was able to ride a horse and it was an amazing experience to go trotting around in the Mountains and me and my grandma singing along next to the campfire with the cowboys.
The happiest moment in my life was when we stayed in the mountains in Colorado with my grandparent’s friends. I wanted to see how fast I could run up the mountain and my grandma decided she wanted to try to run with me. When we reached the top she told me how proud of me she was.
On that trip she also took me zip lining. It was terrifying at first being so high up in the air on a tiny swinging rope bridge. But the entire time she was down there cheering me on. She was even cheering me on when I and her friend went joy riding on an ATV and I gave her quite a fright. (ha-ha)
After having all that fun we finally made it to Utah to my cousin’s wedding. It had been a long time since I had seen the other members of our family and I was extremely happy that my grandma was able to help bring us all together.
This story of my grandmother wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t pay homage to her incredible cooking. It seemed like anything she made was delicious.
In the days when I lived with my grandparents, Grandma would always prepare dinner for my mom and me. I would always sit there in the kitchen with her trying to help. I decided to make my own dessert recipe one night when my mom worked a late shift.
I grabbed my grandma to help me. I was so happy she was going to teach me to bake. I was a very stubborn child though (ha-ha) and thought I had the best creation ever with my chocolate covered butter. It was priceless to watch my grandma pretend to like it.
That time of year when she makes her famous cookies was finally here. I was so happy she was going to teach me to make cookies from scratch. I eventually got pretty good and my favorite part is that after we were finished she would let me have the privilege to lick the spatula before putting it in the dishwasher. That privilege meant quite a deal to me (ha-ha).
My grandma was also a great adviser. Whatever type of question I asked, she always had an answer. She was also the kind of person that would think about other people before herself. She was always willing to lend a helping hand to others. She would do everything in her power to help other people. These are some of the traits she taught me.
My grandmother lived a long, happy life. It was an honor to get to know her, and to be a part of such a wonderful person’s life. I am grateful that I had her as a mentor. She loved all of us deeply and fully, all of us. She was the kind of person who just had more love in her heart for the more people who joined our lives.
The memories of my grandmother are priceless. I am very grateful and I want to thank you all for coming today. It warms my heart to know that we all have sweet memories of her that we will cherish forever. I know we will miss her every day of our lives. May she rest in peace in heaven.
China - in His image 