Here We Go....

So, I've decided to venture off the deep end into the world of blogging.  Now that I've finished graduate school, I guess I still have this compulsion to write.  This should be a bit more fun than the history of cataloging.  Hopefully, the words I write will be a tribute to an amazing woman, and at the same time bring about the healing of my broken heart.

You see, the purpose of this little project is to honor a life well-lived--the life of My Mema, Helen Lang.  To say she was my grandmother doesn't begin to describe the depth of the love between us.  She was my cheerleader, my sounding board, my voice of reason, my teacher, my friend.  And now, she is gone.  She slipped away from us May 28, 2011, after an almost three-year battle against breast cancer.  As we went through the funeral process, I found myself reflecting on the stories she told me, the examples she showed me, and the dreams shared with me.  I would talk of these things with others, and then they would add to what I knew.  We touched on some of these at the funeral.  Afterwards, many in attendance would say "I didn't know this about Helen."  Or, "Your grandmother sure led a full life."  I would shake my head and say "She was amazing." 

So, here we go...I am going to put into writing some of the stories of her life.  I do not endeavor to make this a chronological journey, rather I will just write about whatever experience has wandered its way into my consciousness.  I do not claim that the events will be EXACTLY as they happened, but I will try to stay true to the facts as I remember them.  Much of what I will write about happened long before my birth, so I am relaying the story as it was told to me.  It is my hope that the people who loved Mema will read these things and always remember the legacy she left behind.  For those who didn't know her, or didn't know her well, I hope that this blog will carry forward the example of faith and love that she lived throughout her life.