Last Friday, July 13th, we had to say good-bye to a dear, sweet lady who touched more lives than any of us could count. Robert's grandmother, Margaret Louise Wagauman Land was born in 1924 and graced this world with her precensce for 88 years went home to be with the Lord on July 8, 2012.
Besides giving birth to Cheryl who in turn gave birth to my wonderful husband, she had an impact on the lives of many more. Meg as she was called by her sisters and brothers was one one of 11 kids in her family of 7 girls on 4 boys. As she was born in 1924, she grew up during the days of the Great Depression so times were tough through the years but the family survived. Her sister Peg told a story of the kindness and love Meg had for her family during these lean years. It was nearing Christmas and thier parents didn't have a lot of money to buy presents that year. Especially for 11 kids. So, Meg began buying dolls and doll clothes for her sisters to put under the tree. Peg happened to see them hidden in Meg's closet so she knew where the gifts came from. But, her sister Delores made the comment that she remembered that Christmas but never knew where they came from. And that was the way the Meg wanted it. She prefered that nobody knew where the dolls came from; she just wanted everybody to be happy and have a wonderful Christmas.
She married her husband, Peter a few weeks after her 19th birthday. They had 3 children - Jeff, Cecilia (Cibby) and Cheryl (Robert's mother). They were married for 37 years before Peter succumbed to the symptoms associated with Huntington's Diseasse. It was passed on to Cheryl and in turn Robert, Debbie and Bill. After Peter passed away, she never remarried. She never even dated again. She felt Peter was her one true love and there was no need to look for another one. She continued to live in the little house they had bought in Euclid, OH until she was in her 80's. She finally sold it about 5 years and moved in with her daughter Cibby where she remained until that Sunday a week ago.
She was a devout Catholic and went to church every week until she reached the point where she could no longer drive herself. She took her beliefs seriously and it impacted everything she did. She lived life to the fullest and enjoyed it even when she was dealt a rough hand of cards - which included losing a husband and a daughter to Huntington's disease. She was a ball of fire, and loved her family above all else. She was about 4 foot 11 or and loved to let anyone know how she felt about any number of issues from how biased FOX News was to her views on divorce and second marriages and any other issue that you might want to discuss. Sharing her opinion was never something she would sh away from. In fact, her and I went around a few times about our differences on a lot of different topics.
Her family was the most important to her up until the end. It was obvious in her commimentment to care for her daughter even when it became difficult to do so. It was even obvious up until the final days of her life. In fact, she told her niece, Terry, just a few days before she died that she couldn't go because she didn't want to leave Cibby alone. She kept saying that she needed to be there for Cibby. It was only after much convincing from Jeff and Terry they would care for Cibby that she decided it was okay to join Cheryl in heaven.
Margaret Louise Waugaman Land was very special lady and she will be missed by many but we all carry her in our hearts wherever we go. She touched many lives and we are all better for having known her.
We love you and look foward to seeing you again in heaven.
No comments:
Post a Comment