John and May had started as two young people in love writing letters cryptically during WWII, until John made it safely home and they got married. They suffered a tragic still-born delivery of a child before having four children that currently has grown into 11 grandchildren (six of whom are married) and 9 great-grandchildren ALL of whom are STILL following Christ, active in their respective churches and are raising their children in the same manner.
For years a saying in their house during family gatherings and events was, "A house filled with love is made of rubber walls"...it can always expand to make room for more people. This love for Christ first and family second prompted May to bake peanut butter cookies (arguably the best on the planet) and be consumed by the 2-gallon bucket-load, a loud laughter-filled grand-kid-ruled house, Christmas cookie making parties and Easter egg dying parties, only to be topped off by annual trips to the Chula Vista, Ca area, but not as one big group though.
John and May would take a few grand kids at a time; EACH WEEK they drove down to their traditional RV park, in the exact same space each year, spend one week loving on and playing with their grand-kids, drive home with one load of kids only to pick up another load and do it again week after week for a month or more straight. They drove nearly 2 hours one-way willingly for a week full of fun, swimming, memory-making activities, annual passes to Sea World, trips to the San Diego Wild Animal Park and/or San Diego Zoo and more. The love God instilled in the nurturing loving woman he created May to be was unmistakable.
She had a lifetime teaching credential, taught for many years and was well-respected for years following her retirement. Her life was filled with investing in the lives of others. Did she have faults, of course, but isn't that what grace and forgiveness are all about?
In the last few years of his life, John was loving cared for and tended to by May due to the health conditions he battled. This ranged from routine trips to doctors appointments to multiple hospital stays and even an extended stay in a physical therapy facility....she couldn't help but be glued to him. The love in their eyes was all too obvious. In August 2001, May lost the lifelong love of her life John, or "Stanley" as she called him when he went home to be with The Lord. May desperately missed him more than her words could ever express, but she clung to her family and emphasized how important family was any chance she could get.
Just 2 short weeks before her passing she was able to spend time with her 15 month-old youngest great-grandchild, see him walking around her house, beginning to talk and put sounds together and joyfully commented on how she loved the little sound of his feet walking on her floors. During his visit she reminisced about holding him for the first time while he cooed at her as they just stared at each other.
In the early morning hours of January 31st, May called her full-time care-taker (2-doors down the street) to let her know she didn't feel very well and also alerted emergency medical services, but God knew He needed His servant at the foot of His throne to tell her, "Well done my good and faithful servant!" The people alerted, although two doors down and a fire engine only two blocks away, did not arrive in time and she had already left this world to be in the presence of our Almighty Savior.
You see, May wasn't just a teacher, a friend, a piano player, a cook, a role-model, an amazing woman of God, Mother and Great-Grandmother, she was MY Grandma and she is already and will forever be greatly missed. She is now in the presence of God singing praises to His name with my Grandpa and able to see and spend time with the child they never were able to raise.
On one of the walls in their house was a plaque that read, "Working for God doesn't pay much, but the retirement plan is out of this world!" I love you Grandma....enjoy retirement!
By His Strength Alone,
-GWS†
Here is one of the last pictures taken of May during Christmas 2011 surrounded by nearly all of her enormous family.
