Mavis Vinje

Jeannette's grandmother--her dad's mom--passed away yesterday morning at the age of 91 in New Glarus, Wisconsin. Jeannette and MelodyJoy spent all of last week in Wisconsin to visit Grandma Vinje, as well as Grandpa Wilder in Ladysmith, who also has been ailing.

I've never spent much time with Grandma Vinje--she's lived her whole life in Wisconsin and Jeannette and I have been on the west coast for most of our marriage--but I think I got to know her a little bit, and I've heard a lot of stories from my wife. Mavis Vinje was a simple yet amazing woman. She loved her God, she was a single mom, she was a survivor.

When Jeannette called yesterday morning to tell me that Grandma had died, she told me that MelodyJoy and she had had a good time with her on Friday. Jeannette said, "Yesterday was a good day for Grandma." I said, "She's having a better day today, though."

It made me smile to picture Grandma Vinje coming into heaven. I can see this little pixie of a woman, self-effacing in every way, giggling as she walks through the gates and shushing the angels as they cheer her arrival. After all the hard times she endured on this earth, she'll grin from ear-to-ear to see her mansion on a street of gold. I can hear her exclaiming, "Oh, it's too much, Lord, just give me an apartment on the second floor with birds singing outside the window."