Frances Ollyne McDaniels

Yesterday, early in the morning, my Grandma Frances passed away. She was at home with my mom and me. She has battled dementia for many years and is now free with a strong mind and body. We were lucky to have her at home with our families for the past 4 years.

Born Frances Ollyne Willams on Sept. 22, 1924 and named after Great Grandpa's twin sister Ollyne (Ollie), Grandma grew up the only daughter of 3 children to Archie and Gladys Williams in Riley Springs, Texas. Grandma lived on a farm and used to tell me stories about her life as a young girl. I seem to remember her having a pig that spoke to a spider...but I may be getting that confused with another story I might have known at the time. =) She told me that she used to sing in the traveling church choir on weekends, and spent her time following her older brothers wherever they went. She played basketball in high school and didn't remember there being a Great Depression. She would tell me that they were always poor and did not know any different.

Grandma got married young and traveled out to Lakewood, California with her husband, Grandpa Buddy, and young daughter, Gwen. They had 3 daughters (my mom the 2nd oldest) and a son. My spunky Grandma worked as a cocktail waitress until Grandpa decided he wasn't digging on that. He got her a job where he worked, McDonald Douglas, where she would crawl around huge airplanes being built and apply sealant. She spent many years there and ended up retiring from that company. On weekends, mom tells me that Grandma and Grandpa would have huge parties with all their friends. Grandma was quite social and loved being around people.

By the time I came around, her first and only granddaughter for many years, she lived in a retirement community with all the other old ladies. She had long since been divorced from Grandpa and was happily living her life with bright red hair and her collection of clowns (which still scare me). She had an old Chevy Monte Carlo in her driveway (that Ryan and I would call Mozzarella thinking we had it right) that always stayed parked. She preferred to ride her 3-wheeler bike with the basket or walk. I would stay overnight with Grandma and join her with her daily activities. I remember helping pack canned goods at a food shelter, delivering meals to the little old ladies that needed company, playing bingo at the club house, going to the store to stock up on diet coke, weeding her tomato garden, and of course watching her daily taped episode of The Young And The Restless. We would swim at the community pool where Grandma first taught me the correct form of diving...yet I don't remember her liking the water that much. =) She had a drawer beneath her TV that housed crayons and coloring books for her grand kids, and frosty mugs in the freezer for us to put our drinks in. We loved those things!

It is very sad to have Grandma gone, but so great that she is home with the Lord....spending time with the others that we love until we join them. I hope she is having a sweet reunion with her parents, her son, husband, and brothers...and no doubt giving my dad a hard time.

Losing someone you love is always difficult. These 2 verses I read this morning have brought me much comfort, knowing that God truly loves and is openly available to all who search.

"But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and soul." Deuteronomy 4:29

"Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord, He is God in Heaven above and on the Earth below; there is no other." Deuteronomy 4:39

What an amazing God we serve who is able to care for us all, in joy and in grief.

Thank you Lord for the many years we had with Grandma.