Passing of a Legacy!

Today, Mary Josephine Vanausdall Farris died!

A part of my heart is gone! With her passing I believe a legacy has ended. Grandma was the glue that binded our family together for so many of us that were her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and many more! She was the center pole in our family tent that stretched over many years. Grandma to me was everything I knew that was good about Indiana. For so many years she lived with grandpa Farris in that small house that seemed alive with love and memories. Then one day grandpa died and she was alone. But then uncle Jimmy had his car accident that left him paralyzed from the shoulders down. Grandma without question cared for Jim until he finally died many years later. She also took care of Nanny in her last years. To this day I think of that small bedroom and Nanny old room. Grandma has seen the loss of two children, Jimmy and her oldest daughter Edna. She out lived a beloved granddaughter Kathy. She stayed in that little house until her health finally prevented her from being able to properly care even for herself.

As a boy I remember staying at grandma's house as my mom and dad were no longer together. Apparently I was a handful, like the time I cut off several of her flower bulbs around the house because I saw ants or bugs on them. There was a junk yard behind grandma's house that I used to go into. It was there I must have developed my love of cars. It was grandma's house that I learned to eat Rhubarb with salt. We would just pick a stalk and cut the ends off and eat it right in her yard. It was at grandma's house that I learned to eat some great food. Her dumplings and beans were great. I loved to eat the small pieces of dough as she prepared those homemade dumplings. She never cared. She made the best homemade hamburgers. Whenever a lot of us were over at the house she was always quick to make her hamburgers. One of my favorite memories was as a kid and she would make her homemade hot chocolate for breakfast. We would then take a slice of bread and butter it and sprinkle sugar on the butter. Fold the slice in half and carefully dip the bread into the cup of hot chocolate and eat it. Many years later I commented to her about that hot chocolate and the bread we would have for breakfast. She laughed her sweet laugh and shook head as she explained "Oh that wasn't fancy it was just a Poor Man's Breakfast, it was all we had to feed you kids in those days!" When my mom and I lived down the street when I was a small boy, I became mad at mom one day. So I told her I was leaving and was going to Grandma's house. So I took a couple of things and my wagon and headed to Grandma's house. That is until I saw the neighborhood bully and got sacred so I turned around a went home.

Many times as my family drove back to Indiana to visit we would stay up and play cards or other games or many times just sit around that small kitchen table and talk about our family. I was always amazed how many people we could squeeze around that table in that small kitchen. It was said many times if only that table could talk, oh the stories it could tell! Oh the laughter and fun we had so many times. Those years when Jimmy was in the back part of the house in his bed and we would sit and talk or watch TV with Jimmy while others sat at that old kitchen table. Then there was her front porch. It was old and small but many an hour was spent sitting outside and visiting as we waited for someone else from the family to show up so we could visit and talk.

I will miss her, I will miss how we all came together as a family at her house. I will miss seeing her standing at that small kitchen stove preparing yet another meal for her family. Mary Farris has served her family all her life! She sacrificed so much of herself into caring for her kids and grandkids. She truly led a Christ like life as she fulfilled her role in life. She was and is still a great mother and grandmother to all of us that loved her.

Goodbye Grandma, I love you! Until we meet again on the other side of the veil!