Oww! My Most of Me.

On August 16th 2008, my Great-Grandpa passed away.

On August 16th 2009, my beautiful Great-Grandma joined her husband.

Great-Grandparents are sometimes a distant title to some people. But my greats were HEAVILY involved in my life. I was closer to them than any Grandparents I had.

Watching their health decline over the past 5 years has been devestating. Losing them, hurts too. But it's bittersweet. To know what they're together again, those two highschool sweethearts, makes my heart almost explode with joy. After 365 days, my Grandpa finally got his "sweets" back.

My grandparents, as far as I knew them, were epic. Seriously. Epic. Spiritually. And as a couple. They're everything I hope me and my F.E.C. to be.

When I was in 8th Grade I wrote a biography about my Grandma. About 3 years ago she told me she wanted me to read it at her funeral. So I revised it, and did just that.

Anna Dean Hatch was born October 27th 1924 in Richfield UT to Nelly and William Ward. She grew up with her 3 other siblings, (she had 11 but 8 passed away when they were born.) She always had tons of fun in the neighborhood she grew up in. Her and her family used to take trips together in together in their old Model-A Ford. She got her first job when she was 16 in an ice cream parlor. (where she later serendipitously met my grandpa)

She always said that her number one priority is her family, and the way she talked about us, you could tell that was the truth. She had, 4 kids, 5 grandchildren, and 16 great-grandchildren. She was always willing to help someone in need, in or outside of the family, even me, when I decided I NEEDED chocolate milk at 3 AM. She did it without complaining (obviously, the no-complain policy is something that I didn't pick up on fully.) I am just grateful to have had such a loving grandma.

Her appearance was very very comforting. Every time I saw her I felt safe. Because it always seemed as though, I was going to change, the world was going to change, and everything would always be ever-changing. But Grandma was never going to change, and she would always love you.

She had red curly-poofy hair (that really... never changed. and also served it's purpose as sort of a "lighthouse" for whenever you lost her in a store.) and she had hazel eyes that changed from green to brown (just like mine.) She had small soft hands, and her smell was probably some sort of Avon perfume (she had a passionate love affair with Avon products), but to me it was Grandma's Signature Smell. She was one of the most beautiful women that I knew, even with all her years. Even though, once when I was younger I was sitting in her lap and I bluntly said, "Grandma, I love you but I hate the skin you're in."

There had also been hard times for this remarkable woman, she was just a child during the Great Depression and there was little money and food. She lived to see the loss of her parents, her brother and two sisters, her son Michael, her granddaughter Marnie, her great-grandson Joseph, and her husband Blaine. But in all the hard-times, she never lost faith that she would be with them again someday. Her testimony was more priceless to me than I think even she understood.

My grandpa and grandma were married on February 9, 1946. They shared 62 years together. And as my 13 year old self described in an unrevised copy of this biography, "they went through like a million houses." My grandma always told me that my grandpa was the love of her live, and I hope to find someone that I can be with for eternity, like my grandparents. I know that they're together again now, which is definitely something we can all be happy about.

I had many fun and fond memories with my grandma, as we all did. And I am so grateful for those times, and to have her be a part of our lives and be such a wonderful example to all of us. We’ve all suffered a great loss in her passing. But, to be cliche, we shouldn't cry because it's over, we should smile because it happened, and remember that we'll be with her again someday.

Life remains great.