Sunday, April 15, 2007

Jeanne Freeman Smith 9/21/1910-4/3/2007, My Grandma


My Grandma & Grandpa gave me a $4000 loan back in 1991 so I could buy my first Hasselblad system to photograph weddings & commercial work in medium format. I will be eternally grateful for their generosity. This is the first photograph taken with my Hasselblad Classic kit-- a Hasselblad 500 C/M w/ an 80mm CF f2.8 lends with Ektachrome (EPP) Color Transparency film. This is one of my most cherished photographs. It was taken outside their house and illustrates a very happy time in their life. I am truly blessed to have a career in which I can capture precious moments of people for generations to come.

My Grandmother just passed away on April 3rd and I spoke at the memorial service. My Grandfather passed away on December 13th of 1997.

Here is what I said:

Jeanne Freeman Smith 9/21/1910-4/3/2007

My earliest memory of my grandmother is indeed not my memory, but hers. She told me how she held me, rocking me in the rocking chair, when I was very very sick. She was terrified that I was going to die and she loved me so very much and did not want me to die. She rocked me back to health. She was always the one to go to when you were sick or sad or having trouble. Grandma--- the giver of unconditional love.

I remember going on walks with Grandma to the Five & Dime store @ Cedar Center. Later in life it would be shopping on the west side @ Parmatown mall.

I'm so fortunate that my children got to meet Grandma Jeanne. I never got to meet any of my Great Grandparents. Jeanne was different things to different people. I never knew Jeanne as a mother, that was who my mom & aunt knew. I knew Jeanne as my Grandma who I was so very close to. Will & Carissa never knew that Jeanne. They knew Great Grandma Jeanne. We all evolve over our lifetime into different parts of a whole. Each moment in time represents a different part of us, of our lives.

The night before Grandma Jeanne died, Will & I had a discussion about life and death and how none of us go on living forever. We talked about how Grandma Jeanne would probably end up being the next one to die. We talked about how fortunate we were to have known her and how grateful we were to have seen her one last time over Thanksgiving in Washington. I now believe that this was the Holy Spirit talking to us letting both Will & I know about Grandma Jeanne's condition. It was indeed Grandma Jeanne asking permission to leave this world and join her husband, Charles Smith.