Remembering Grace

Please accept my apologies for the long lapse in posting! I've certainly missed our little soap box! This has been a busy and difficult two weeks with some ups and downs. The ups: I started a new project that required a tremendous amount of attention up front, leaving little time for opining about design. The downs: on Friday, June 4, I lost my dear grandma, Grace Emelie Elliot Killmer. That weekend, I flew to Amarillo, TX for the funeral, memorial and all-around family time. Its delving a bit further into the personal realm than I usually go, but I would like to share with you a bit about this well-loved and much-missed grande dame.

That's a very squirmy baby Killy in the arms of two very patient grandparents

Me and Grandma, Christmas 2003

Oliver and I, along with my cousin Ben, were lucky enough to visit Grandma in mid-May, and while she wasn't feeling great during our stay, she perked up and graciously put on a good, strong face for us, told us tons of fun stories and let out her sassier side every once in a while. She told us great tales about her life with five kids and a husband, a Colonel in the army during WWII and the Korean War, all the places they lived, her five-year stint as a commercial artist in an advertising firm before getting married, and so much more.

She told us all about the family photos and art on her walls. She could no longer see it all, but she knew exactly where each piece was, who did it and when, or where the photos were taken.

A fine looking family then.....

.....and now:

My Grandpa, an engineer, did quite a few paintings and collages after he retired from the army, got his PhD, became the director of the business administration department at Amarillo College and took art classes for personal enrichment. His productivity makes me feel like a lazy slug! Some examples of his work and fun photos around the house:

Painting by Don Killmer

Painting by Don Killmer

Painting by Don Killmer

Painting by Don Killmer

Collage by Don Killmer

Grandpa brought these back from Japan

Next to the painting below are photos of my Grandpa. He's no schlub in the looks department, either!

Painting by Don Killmer

Grandma was born on Oct. 6, 1912 in St. Louis, MO and had a (increasingly rare) regional dialect with distinct pronunciations of certain words, but also a cadence of speech we don't often hear today. Plus, she charmingly started almost every sentence with, "Well, honey...." Who doesn't love that? She was a vision of southern genteel society, a breed of people we could certainly use more of these days. She was astonishingly progressive for her time; an open-minded, warm-hearted completely non-judgemental individual. As everyone pointed out at her funeral and memorial, there is no better name for a woman of such grace. I cannot tell you how many times I heard from her friends that was truly a lady, and that she was. Her slacks were always pressed, her dresses well-fitted and she had a beret and a pair of shoes to coordinate with every outfit. She was the living, breathing definition of regal. Actually, both of my grandmothers were quite regal and stately. I have big shoes to fill!

Grandma looking sharp while touring around my middle school:

The family taking a walk down memory lane, outside of my grandparents' old house, before she moved to a retirement home about ten years ago. Five fantastic siblings and their fabulous spouses:

Grandma would have been 98 in October, so she lived a long, full and extremely happy life. I will miss her terribly, but I'm consoled by the knowledge that she is no longer feeling tired, weak or in pain. And it delights me to think she might be reuniting with the love of her life, Colonel Donald F. Killmer.

Her grace, courteousness, kindness, generosity and vivid personality will be with me everyday, as I try to emulate the woman she was.