Betty Rose Martin (Born Novermber 11, 1928, Died March 1, 2009)

Her name was Betty Rose Martin and she was my grandmother.

I received a call a week ago tomorrow that my grandmother was going into Hospice care. They weren't expecting her to live much longer. They took the tubes out of her, made sure she wasn't in any pain, and moistened her tongue. Her body had stopped taking in any fluids or nourishment, her kidneys had failed and it was just time.

She had spent the last couple of years in a nursing home; now she had come home to die.

She didn't remember anyone, as her memory had gone long ago, and what she saw were people she knew from the past. She would answer questions asked by those that could not be seen.

She had always been a strong woman, a product of the greatest generation to ever live. She had told me stories of WWII and how things were during that time. How things were during the Great Depression, how things were throughout her life. She would always give advice, even when you thought you didn't need it. She never held back the truth either. She was alway truthful even when the truth hurt. I respected that from her, even if I didn't want to hear it at times.

She was a woman who helped lead her family. She gave up a promising gospel career, singing southern gospel to marry my grandfather and eventually run the businesses he founded. She was a businesswoman before women really ran companies. He took care of the working side of it; she took care of the business side and together they were very successful.

She was a deeply religious woman, and by religious I mean she followed Christ. She prayed me through some very tough times in my life. For that I will always be grateful, even if I never told her that.

She was married twice, and widowed twice. She had three children, two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. She loved, and was loved in return.

There are not many women like her, and perhaps, will never be again.

She is no longer in pain, she is no long trapped in a frail shell and she is no longer trapped in a mind that could not remember those who visited her.

She is now with her Lord and Savior.

She is now home.