Til We Meet Again!

Betty Mae McDermott Blair (Grandma Bea) was one of the most amazing women I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, let alone have her as my Grandma. She had a deep love for her family and boasted about how Amazing her's was! I am proud to say I am one of them. She loved making new friends and she carried that friendship all throughout her life. She was dedicated, devoted, loyal and most of all, a hard working Latter Day Saint who loved her Heavenly Father! There is so much to be said about this amazing woman.

I wanted to share some of my memories I have with my sweet Grandma Bea. I don't ever want to forget them!!!
As far back as I can remember, I have had a special bond with Grams. I remember always looking forward to Sundays because that was the day we saw Grandparents. I LOVED my Grandma's house. It was the house that she raised my Dad in and I always thought that was so cool. I remember playing so hard with all the cousins and Grandma being the ring leader of it all. She wanted to see her Grand kids having fun and she would stop at nothing to make it happen. I also believe I had my first sleepover at her house.That was a big deal!!! I loved sleepovers at Grandma Bea's because that meant a LOT of fun things were in store for us. Some of my cousins would be there and Grandma would take us to feed the ducks, take us on walks around her neighborhood with an Ice Cream cup in hand, march around the house to Bea's famous marching song with musical instruments blazing, the McDermott family reunions we would have at the Murray Stake center, and all the many years we spent at  the Redmond campground with the "Stuffers", the Murray 4th of July parade. She orchestrated ALL the games and activities for the Grand kids. Amazing!!! She always went above and beyond when she was planning a party.  Grams had a special friend.... her name was The Shoe Fairy. When we would have sleepovers, all the grand kids would leave one of their shoes at the front or back door. While we were sleeping, the shoe fairy would creep in and leave an incredible amount of goodies. We would be so excited to wake up and find our shoe spilling over with Candy!!! She would always take us to Jobber Odd Lot. It was the most insane nick knack store! We would walk in and my eyes would light up. I had quite the obsession with trinkets when I was younger. Grandma knew that about me and she found so much pleasure watching me get so excited about this store. She would always let us pick out our favorite thing and she would buy it. Grandma's Christmas Eve Eve parties were THE BEST. We are lucky enough to have most of them on video. She always loved performances and would try to have everyone perform a dance or piano piece or a song. One of these parties cracks me up. This is what I remember of it. I think I was in the 2nd or 3rd grade, so I was pretty young. My mom, Rachel, Marni and I sang a Christmas hymn, my Aunt Tracie and Sherri sang a song, my cousin Shylo played the piano, my cousin Blair played the Clarinet, my cousin Toni tap danced, and all my sibling rapped. After that was all done, we barked and meowed Christmas Carols all night. Another thing that I will never forget about Grandma is our trips to Capitol Theater to see the Nutcracker on Christmas Eve. She started to bring all the grand kids when we were all really young (so our parents could get some wrapping done). She made Christmas feel so magical to me. She loved the Ballet and her eyes would light up every time she went. There is this part during the Ballet where a canon goes off and I remember Grandma jumping and screaming when it happened because she had dozed off. I love those sweet little memories.
As I got older, I realized just how much Grandma really did for her children and her grandchildren. She never missed a birthday! She was always there. I am positive she never missed any of her grand kids birthdays. She wanted each and every one of us to know that she loved us so much. Every time we would say I Love You, she would say I Love You MORE! There was no arguing with her on that! She has so many cute quirks. She had this adorable giggle when she thought something was funny. My Dad could always make her laugh. She loves my Dad so much. I love the bond that the two of them shared.
She came to my Miss South Jordan pageant and cheered me on. And when I got married, she absolutely fell in love with Dallas. I remember her telling me that I really got a good one. Then whenever i would see her and Dallas would not be with me, she would ask how my handsome husband was doing. I loved that she loved him.
In the last years of her life, I have very sweet memories with her. I remember making a visit on Christmas Eve 2 years ago and my Dad gave her a red laptop. She was so excited to use it. My dad told her she could use it for Henry and Clara's (her parents) history..... and that he already set her up with a Facebook account. I remember the look of pure confusion on her face. But Grandma was excited to use it because it meant she could stay in touch with the people she loved. Just last Christmas, we made a visit on Christmas Eve and my Dad gave her a nice flat screen tv. She giggled the whole time she was opening it. She wanted them to put it up so that she could see it on her wall. Her giggle was amazing. She loved getting presents but most of all, she LOVED giving them. Seeing the looks on her families faces was pure joy to her. I was able to visit her in the Hospital about a month ago after she had a bad fall. She never liked the Hospital or Rehabilitation Center. She just wanted to be home with family. The last time I saw her while she was coherent was last Thursday. Marni and I took the kids to see her. She was laying in her bed, dozing off a little. She wanted to be awake while we were there but could not keep her eyes open. Before she dozed off, we gave her a nice lotion massage on her hands and arms. I told her that her hands looked so young and she laughed. She also told me that I was so stylish because i was wearing this scarf. She said that she watches the shows and she knows what is in style right now. I think that is so darn cute! It was a precious afternoon spent with her and I am so lucky and grateful i did because shortly after, it was downhill from there.
I loved this woman so much. My heart is so full right now. It gives me comfort to know that I will see her again. It also gives me comfort that she could be watching over me and that she knows how much I LOVE her and how much she meant to me. She is no longer in any pain and that is great.

I love you so much Grandma Bea. You are such a big part of me and who I am. I am grateful to have known you and to call you Grandma. I will miss you so much and pray that in those rough times, you will be looking down on me giving me comfort! You will be missed by so many!
Til We Meet Again!
I Love You MORE!!!