Dave & Tash + Lucy

 Since I was very young I have idolized you, hoping to grow up and be half of what you are. However the older I’ve grown, my admiration has developed into a deeply profound respect. Whenever the going gets tough, I think to myself, if Grandma can do it, so can I. I think of how you started working at such a young age to support your family. The long night walks home through the woods with a pint of ice cream in hand. Or how you married young and raised six kids as beautifully as you did. You were strong, so strong, I often don’t know how you did it. It makes me sad sometimes to think how hard it must have been for you, all those years of up and down struggles, and yet somehow you made it work. You found a way to make life good. From packing up the VW bus with dressers full of clothes and trekking down the highway for family trips, to creating out-houses in the woods, you made life fun. How you cook everything from scratch, and exemplify what it means to be a hard worker, you set such a great example. And how you ended up walking down the church isle with six kids in tow so that you could all be saved. Who you are has created the richest life I know. Your incredible leadership as a mother has blessed me with the biggest and best family I could ask for. You hard work and dedication has set the best example to follow. And your tender leadership as a strong woman in Christ has forever marked our family in a way that can only come from a genuine heart such as yours. Because you are faithful to the leadings of Christ, diligent in your prayers, and powerful in your love, you have blessed our family eternally. This world holds nothing of value except the love of Christ, and you have given that to each of us. But not just to us, to extended family and friends as well. There is a reason everyone loves Grandma Francis the way they do…it’s because of who you are and what you stand for. It’s because you so model Christ in your selfless and sacrificial love for others. I have never, and doubt I will ever, know anyone that can love like you Grandma. You are the absolute greatest person I know.

 I want to be fun like you, I want to be pretty like you, I want to be clean like you, I want to be a mom like you, I want to be a wife like you, I want to work hard like you, and I want to love like you. In other words, I want to be just like you and always have!

 Thank you for just being you Grandma. I wish you the very best 80^th Birthday, and expect that you plan on being here many, many more!! I love you with all my heart Grandma, you are the very best! 

Lots of Love, Your Granddaughter Natasha