Farewell Grandma Gentry

My grandmother passed away this afternoon. She had a stroke last year and has been bedridden for about a year now. She has been unable to swallow or talk and has been fed through a stomach tube all this time.

I think I would have given up long since if I were in her position, but she was tenacious. It's hard to lose her, but I'm sure she's much happier now.

Her and grandpa gave us a piano when I was ten and that's what got me started playing. If it weren't for that, I might be a violin player right now, which is nice, but not so great for leading music. She always encouraged me in music, talked her friend's ears off about how great I was and made sure I was practicing every time I saw her.

I had put a tribute to her inside my CD booklet, but she had the stroke just before the project was released. I guess that's my only regret, but she always made it clear she was proud of me. We brought a stereo into her room and played the CD for her, but I'm pretty sure she didn't know what it was. Her and grandpa had given me some money to buy the initial equipment I needed to start the project, so it might not have happened or been delayed a while if they had not done that.

The lower picture is of mom, Isabelle and Elena visiting her. We had a keyboard in her room and would sing some of her favorite hymns. (She played piano in church from when she was young until she was physically unable) When we would sing one of her favorites she would vocalize and try to sit up. Even though we couldn't understand her, we know she recognized that music and wanted to participate. She had a unique style of playing where she did hymns in a ragtime style. It was quite lively and fun to listen to. My mom and I tried to emulate that sound for her but we fall short of grandmas abilities in that genre. I have a midi recording of her playing somewhere in the closet I think; I'll have to pull it out and see if I can record it to audio.

Last week the girls went with my mom to visit her. Elena rubbed lotion on grandma's hands, arms & face, and Elena & Isabelle sang some songs for her, dictated 'get well' cards, and drew pictures for grandma. It's always sweet to hear children singing and I'm sure grandma loved it even if she couldn't say so.

At the end of their visit Elena came running with a teddy bear and said, “She needs something to cuddle when we leave.” The sweet gesture of 4-year-old comfort! My aunt said grandma was holding it when she arrived at grandma's bedside yesterday. Elena's comfort was with Great Grandma to her last breath.

Before grandma passed away Elena asked my mom “Gramma, when will Great Gramma Gentry get well?” to which Isabelle replied “Elena, she’s very old; she’s just going to get dead.” When we told Elena today that great grandma had died, she said "Now she can eat!"

God bless you Grandma, we'll miss you.