Remembering Grandma

Margaret Lee Overturff

  June 6, 1921 - July 16, 2017

Grandma left this world on July 16, 2017 at age 96.  I had been expecting the call these last few weeks, but when it finally came, I still was not prepared to hear the news.  Mom, Daddy, and Ashley were with her when she passed away which I was so thankful for.  What's really amazing is that they were sitting with her for a while knowing the end was coming.  Mom leaned over and whispered to her "Go see your mother now.  She is waiting for you."  It was then that Grandma took a couple more breaths and then she was gone.  I'm so glad mom got to have that time with her.  Mom took such good care of Grandma.  She visited her almost every day, did her laundry for her, advocated for her, and made sure she received the best care possible.  Daddy took care of all of Grandma's finances and always supported Mom with whatever decisions she had to make for her.  How lucky Grandma was to have them both care for her the way they did.  She was such a wonderful grandmother and I have so many fond memories of being with her.  I'm especially thankful that she got to be part of Pearce's life.  I remember taking Pearce to see her when he was just a newborn and she fell completely in love with him.  It was always so fun to see Pearce interact with Grandma.  As he got bigger, his love for Grandma grew, too.  He was so sweet with her...Pearce, Nathan, and Charlotte all were.  They loved to brush her hair, put lotion on her hands, play with her jewelry, push her in her wheelchair, and eat the chocolates she always had in her room :)  Grandma always played games with them and although she became more confused about names, she knew these little kids were special to her and just loved them so much.  She loved showing them off to her friends at lunch and always lit up with joy when she saw them.  Pearce and I saw Grandma just a couple weeks ago, but I knew then, that was probably going to be our last visit and sadly, I was right.  I was so worried about telling Pearce that she had died.  I had started preparing him for that and a lot of the times we talked about it, he cried.  He was also deeply sad when he found out Grandma's roommate, Ms. Mary, had passed away last year.  He cried and cried about her.  Chris and I sat Pearce down and told him that Grandma had gone to Heaven.  I was crying when I told him and when I looked at him, he just smiled.  Chris asked if he was sad.  Pearce said "No, this is good!  Now Grandma has a new body in Heaven and she can walk and play.  Oh, and she gets to see Ms. Mary and Otis and Cookie and Grandpa and she gets to be with her mommy, too!"  It made us so happy that he chose to think of her passing that way.  Chris and I were talking about her funeral arrangements and Pearce asked if he was got to go.  We told him yes and he said "Oh, this will be my first funeyearold!"  This gave us the chuckle we needed.....just hearing him trying to pronounce funeral was funny :)  We went to Dallas Wednesday and then to Springfield, MO Friday for her visitation that evening and then her graveside service Saturday morning.  It was such a bittersweet time...saying our final goodbyes to Grandma was heartbreaking, but seeing our extended family was wonderful.  Pearce, Nathan, and Charlotte made all of us so proud.  They were so respectful and well behaved and extremely compassionate when they saw us crying...giving me, Ashley, and Mama their sweet hugs.  They each made a picture for Grandma and at the visitation, put them in her casket so that she would always have them.  We all gave Grandma one last kiss.  We went to Aunt Mona and Uncle Gordon's house for dinner and enjoyed being with family and reminiscing.  Saturday morning, we drove to Willard, MO for the graveside service.  It really was such a nice service.  Victoria sang Grandma's favorite song, "How Great Thou Art."  It was absolutely beautiful!  Me, Ashley, Jen, and Lisa each spoke about our favorite memories of Grandma.  When the service was over, we all got a few of Grandma's flowers and put them in her and Grandpa's headstone.  We then went over to Lisa's new house for lunch and then took the kids to see Grandma and Grandpa's old house, Mama Pearce's old house, and to Phelp's Grove Park to play....this was the park we all played in during our childhoods.  It was fun letting our kids play here.  Then we went to Andy's Custard for ice cream....Andy's was where Pearce had his very first ice cream cone when he was 2 :)  We went back to the hotel and let the kids swim for HOURS while the family visited some more.  I think Grandma would have been so pleased with her family gathering together to honor her.  Life goes on, but Grandma will never be forgotten.      

Golf Camp at the Club

We signed Pearce up for Golf Camp at the Twin Creeks Country Club last month and he LOVED it!  He went Monday-Thursday from 9-12.  He normally doesn't like being dropped off anywhere, but he didn't care at all with this camp.  He even said "Mommy, when I'm at golf camp I don't miss you or think about you at all."  Plus, he actually learned a lot.  Whenever I picked him up, he talked nonstop about everything they got to do and everything he learned.  So, when he begged us to let him go to golf camp again, we said yes....and Chris got Pearce his own set of clubs :)  Pearce was so excited when Chris showed him his new clubs.  He had absolutely no problem getting up early during the week of camp because he was so excited to take his new clubs.  Each morning, we would go to the club and wait by the pro shop, then the kids loaded up on several golf carts and off they went.  I loved that the golf pro was the main teacher, but also lots of high school guys volunteered too, which Pearce thought was really cool :)  By mid week, he didn't even want me to wait with him until they loaded up....he just wanted me to leave.....he thought he was hot stuff by then :)  On the last day, the kids all got a little prize.  The boys got a small Lego set and the girls got a stuffed animal.  He really wants to do the third session, but I don't know if we'll be able to do that, but we will definitely be doing this again next year!  I'm so glad he loves golf....this is a sport I can get behind and be ok with him participating in.  Plus, he loves getting to go with Daddy to the driving range.  Pearce is actually really good, so it would be so fun if Pearce and Chris could play together one day!

First Lost Tooth!

Pearce lost his first tooth on July 6, 2017!  I noticed how wiggly it was and we decided to try to pull it using dental floss tied to a door and his tooth.  He was so excited about trying this, but each time I slammed the door, the floss would just slip off his tooth.  Pearce then said I should use my "sewing string."  So, I got some strong thread and tied it to his tooth and then to the door.  Well, then he freaked out about it because he knew the string was tied really well to his tooth.  No amount of coaxing was going to work and he did not want me to slam the door.  So, I cut the string from the door but then could not get the rest of the string off his tooth...it was tied really tight!  After lots of convincing, he agreed to let me pull the string, but I only got one try.  I yanked and out came his tooth!  He was so excited but then got scared because it bled.  We got the bleeding stopped and he LOVED his new smile!  For once, Pearce happily agreed to go to bed because he could not wait to see what the Tooth Fairy was going to leave him.  He put his tooth in his Tooth Fairy pillow that I had ordered several months ago and off to bed he went.  The next morning, I was still half asleep when I heard him wake up Daddy to go check his pillow.  He was so excited that the Tooth Fairy left him $2.00 and a teeny tiny note that told him how happy she was to get a nice, clean tooth.  She also told him that she could tell he brushed his teeth twice a day and to keep that up so that he has a nice, healthy smile :)  His other bottom tooth is slightly loose, too.....the Tooth Fairy is going to be very busy!

4th of July '17

After the beach, we came home to Austin, unpacked a few beach items, picked up Chris, and then headed off to the lake for the 4th of July!  Pearce watched his movie for a while and then passed out the rest of the drive :)  We had such a great time because it was the first time Chris had gone with us to the lake and Pearce was so excited to show him everything.  We loved that Auntie Jen was able to come for the weekend, too!  The only time Pearce wakes up early is when we're at the lake.  He gets up early and then goes to the living room and sits with Papa and Annie and watches a show for a while until everyone else gets up.  Mama cooked us a great breakfast and Pearce could not wait to get on the water to show his daddy tubing and swimming skills!  Daddy even took several rides on the tube....so fun!  That night we went out on the water to see the fireworks in the middle of the lake.  This was such a neat fireworks show!  Pearce loved sitting on the back of the boat to watch the show....and what an awesome show it was!  We decided we're always going to the lake for the 4th...nothing better than being on a boat in the middle of the lake to see fireworks!  We did lots more swimming and fishing and tubing the rest of the weekend.  Papa did SUCH a good job cooking ribs for celebration dinner.....nothing better than BBQ for the 4th!  Since the 4th was on a Tuesday, the fireworks show was on Saturday night which was kind of nice because we left on Monday and were still able to take part in the pool party at the club.  On our way back home, we stopped by to see Grandma.  She was having a tough time when we first got there and it was obvious she was in pain and very uncomfortable.  It really worried Pearce, but he was such a trooper and watched the nurses make her more comfortable and once she received some pain medicine she was so much better!  She laughed and smiled at Pearce and talked to him.  Pearce was so sweet to Grandma....rubbing her hand, talking to her, and giving her LOTS of kisses.  Anytime the little kids visit Grandma, she enjoys it so much.  It was a really nice visit and I'm so thankful for that and for the sweet pictures I have of that visit.  On Tuesday the 4th, Pearce and I went to the club for their big pool party.  The pool was totally packed.  We swam for about 20 minutes, but then decided to go check out the big blow up slide they had set up.  Well, as soon as Pearce did it one time, that was it....we stayed there for TWO hours!  He loved it!  They also had a foam bubble pool thingy set up, too.  Pearce went back and forth between those and just had the best time.  He also took part in an awesome water balloon fight....it was so funny seeing Pearce throw these water balloons at kids....totally crazy, but fun!  Later that evening, we went over to one of Chris's friends' houses for ANOTHER pool party.  Pearce was very popular there....the guys there LOVED playing with Pearce in the pool and throwing him in the water...it was really cute to watch.  We got home later that night and were excited to let Pearce try out some sparklers we got him.  He had never done sparklers or any type of fireworks, so he had a blast!  We got smoke bombs, sparklers, and a bigger thing that spewed out sparks and smaller fireworks.  These things are all approved to do in the city limits, so we will definitely be getting more for next year!

Funny story about this little guy.  We were at dinner with everyone at a Mexican food restaurant and when Pearce took a bite of his quesadillas, he said loudly "Mmmmm, these are so damn good!"  We were all a little shocked and not quite sure whether we should laugh or not.  Then Pearce said with a shrug "Well, Daddy says that."  Then we all started laughing!  Daddy does enjoy good food and yes, he does say that quite a bit!