Grandma LaBar: 1910-2009

My Grandma LaBar passed away this morning, Monday, October 26, at 12:30 AM at the age of 99 1/2 years old. We were planning a big celebration for her 100th birthday next summer and I'm so sorry she'll miss it because nearly all the family was planning on attending. She would have loved seeing everyone and being the center of attention for such an event. I wouldn't have been surprised if Grandma had lived to be 105 so even though 99 is definitely a full life I still find myself surprised that she is gone so quickly and somewhat unexpectedly. A year ago she was still living in her own home! She was an amazing woman who believed deeply in the Lord. She will be missed by many friends and especially her 4 sons, 10 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of her with our family (mostly my girls) over the last four years. We love you Great Grandma!

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Last May the girls and I spent several days with Pop-A-Lops visiting Great Grandma in Michigan. One day while we were out to lunch I snapped this picture while Grandma was reaching into Kennedy's car seat to hold her hand. I thought it was a beautiful picture when I took it but looking at it tonight it seems bittersweet as it shows the passage of time.

Reagan giving Great Grandma a hug
Reagan discovered she enjoyed pushing Great Grandma in her wheelchair where ever she needed to go. In this picture we were headed back to Great Grandma's room after visiting in the common area.
I think this picture is so sweet because it looks like Grandma and Kennedy are having a great conversation and throughly enjoying each others company.

Great Grandma and Kennedy enjoying some beautiful outdoor weather, Kennedy was actually fascinated with the arms of Grandma's wheelchair, mostly the part she could see her reflection in much like a mirror.

Because Grandma enjoys chocolate so much we always sent her some special Godiva chocolate for holidays, birthdays etc. While we were visiting in May Reagan gave Grandma this box of chocolate the morning we were getting ready to leave and very much wanted Great Grandma to go ahead and enjoy a piece. While Great Grandma did love chocolate she had a strict rule of only eating one piece per day (even though many of us assurred her at her age it was probably okay to eat as much as she wanted). Grandma would never have dreamed of eating that one piece before breakfast. It was quite funny watching a very stubborn 2 year old trying to convince her 99 year old great grandmother who was sweet but just as stubborn that it was okay to eat the chocolate. Finally Great Grandma partially gave in and pretended to eat the chocolate. lol :)

Last Christmas we visited Michigan so Grandma could meet Kennedy who was just barely over a month old at the time. Here is our first four generation picture with Kennedy. Great Grandma and Kennedy hit it right off and knew just how to make each other smile! :)

Over Labor Day 2008 we had a "LaBar" Day weekend with the intent of getting all the LaBar great grandchildren together for Great Grandma to see. While in Michigan I took this picture of Grandma with one of her rugs she had recently completed. Grandma made many beautiful braided rugs over the years and also taught numerous classes on her method of making braided rugs.

During our "LaBar" day weekend we took the opportunity to capture the great grandchildren's handprints along with coloring for Great Grandma to enjoy after we had left.

Grandma loved a good game of Scrabble and she and Tim played every time he visited. More than once she told me "Tim is a killer Scrabble player. He plays for blood." That cracked me up because she normally didn't talk that way and it was so funny to hear her say that about Tim. There's no doubt she took her Scrabble playing seriously! Last week she told me she'd still like to play another game of Scrabble with Tim.

Uncle Martin is the oldest of Grandma's 4 boys and Riley is the oldest Great Grandchild. Stacy is Uncle Martin's oldest daughter and Rory and Riley are her sons. At the time this picture was taken Riley was the youngest great grandchild.

This 4 generation LaBar picture times 2 was taken during our visit to Michigan in January 2008. My Dad is the youngest son and my Uncle David is the second oldest. My Uncle David's son, Darin, has a son, Brendan, who is just a month younger than Reagan.

This picture was taken in July 2007 and is the first time Great Grandma met Reagan. You can see even at the age of 97 she felt completely at ease holding and giving Reagan a bottle. :)

This is a picture of my cousin, Amber, with Grandma when our family came together to celebrate her 95th birthday in Michigan over the July 4th holiday weekend in 2005.

A LaBar family picture during the 95th birthday celebration weekend

We love and respect you so much Grandma! We will all miss you very much!!! :) XOXOX