Tir Na Nog called for an angel...
Florence Ethel Luster Williams
my feisty, sweet Grandma Williams

oh, the wee hours of August 16, 1986
just 11 days shy of your 89th birthday
my dear mom knew why the phone rang
you were so peaceful just hours before
you bravely fought months of gangrene hell
you refused to have a leg off like your Jim
you wanted to return in one piece to your sweetheart
as your change of life baby became your nurse
a reversal of roles my mom would share with love
you told us to forget any silly birthday cake
for you certainly wouldn't be attending any party
a story that still brings tears to my aging eyes

diabetes is now mine as you predicted
I am just like you, your girls, and their dad
you taught me how to weather any storm
loss of vision was a strange gift of new love
your tragic stories of youth flow in my heart
I see an impoverished coal miner's daughter
with no grandparents and rarely hearing about them
a dozen people stuffed in a two room mining shack
at times no shoes when hand~me~downs wore out
several brothers at hard labor before their teen years
you were refused high school by your own mother
went to work as a short order cook after eighth grade
young adulthood a mess until you met Jim Williams

The Williams family were the only ones at your wedding
your mutual love grew strong as the years passed by
tears flowed when your first darling daughter died
your feisty spirit soon found you having another baby
a miscarriage followed and you thought you were done
by 1936 your surprise arrived in your Cleveland home
the same little girl who would lead you back to Jim
as you literally faded in a private room next to her office
her nursing home residents became my second family
her devoted staff cried with us that sad August 16, 1986
I carried you to your grave as a pallbearer with total love
hard to believe it's 20 years since I gave you a sweet hug...

your "Shawney" loves you Grandma : )
one day we will meet again in Tir Na Nog : )

Florence Ethel Luster is born August 27, 1897
and she passes to Tir Na Nog August 16, 1986
and she lives on within this August 16, 2006

only childhood photo & last Christmas photo
1914~Crooksville, OH 1985~Chicago, IL