It seems strange to say that I have known Anne for 35 years because those years have passed so quickly. For the past 28 years she has been my mother-in-law and took care of me as my mother had passed away soon after Donna and I married. It was Anne's nature to welcome and care for anyone who was blessed enough to meet her. For those of us who married into Anne's family the welcome was that much stronger and lasting and her caring that much more full of love which grew deeper and deeper over the years. Her gift was also to serve her family and put them first which she demonstrated at all of my visits to her home and all the family gatherings I ever attended. To my mind and experience, her cooking and baking were legendary and the volume and quantity of food she prepared was hard to grasp as freezers and fridges filled to over flowing. Of course everyone left her house with a trunk full of food! That was only one of the very tangible ways she would care for us and let us know we were loved. More gentle and tender was the love that flow out of her in the form of kisses and hugs, the warm hellos and tearful goodbyes, the late night welcomes we received upon arrival in Grandview and the image of her waving at the window when we drove away. The legacy of that caring and love lives on in her sons and daughter and it has spread to her grandchildren and now her great grandchildren and Maya her sweet great great-granddaughter. I recognize her smile and feel her heart in them as I receive their enthusiastic hugs and absorb the love, they offer from their hearts that carry Anne's finger prints, her legacy. Those finger prints will never fade from our hearts because they were placed there in Mum's loving ways.
Goodbye for now Mum, I look forward to our next meeting. It will be Wonderful!
Love Rob