Mom was a GREAT PERSON! She was smart! She graduated cum laude from Western, a woman's college in Ohio. She was compassionate, caring and giving. She had a great sense of humor. She was a teacher for 28 years. We frequently met people who would say they had her for a teacher. This was almost universally followed by; "She was my favorite teacher". Even at the funeral home, numerous visitors for another deceased noticed that Mom had died and commented that they had her as a teacher. People would come up to her and say; "You probably don't remember me, but ", "They were wrong"! She remembered them all. The good kids and the ones who needed direction, the smart kids and the ones who struggled, but what she remembered most about them was the good they did. She touched so many lives. We really miss our talks and her wise direction.

Mom loved being on the water. She learned to sail when she was a teenager at her parents' cottage on Lake Tippecanoe. She certainly passed along her love of water to her kids. Whenever we go out on the water, we will think of you.

Mom started showing signs of Alzheimer's disease about 8 to 10 years ago. It's been hard watching Mom turn slowly into someone none of us knew and someone she would never have wanted to be.

It's easier now. Now she is again the Mom we remember. We no longer have to feel sorry for the shriveled body and wasted mind. We no longer have to feel protective and struggle to make decisions based on the way we thought Mom wanted and needed. She is again the protector and nurturer of our lives. We hope she understood on some level the loving care Dad gave her during her sickness. She hated what she had become. She didn't want to be that way. She often said so during her mother's similar illness, "If I ever get like that just shoot me". She is again the dynamic person who accomplished so much. She loved, gave, learned and traveled the world. She nurtured and provided so much, not just for her family but the countless lives that she touched. She loved her life. She accomplished what she wanted. She wasn't afraid to die. She had faith and really believed she had accomplished what was important, being a wife, mother, grandmother, friend and teacher.

My Grandmother, Jean Nail, was the quintessential grandmother it had been so hard for me to see her as she deteriorated over the years. The grandmother I knew always had a smile on her face, and she indulged her grandchildren to the utmost. I never once heard her say anything negative about anyone. She was such a light to us all. She made us feel as though we were perfect just the way we were. Every time we went to see her and my grandfather, she always remarked about how blessed they were to have such a wonderful family.

In my early childhood, going to grandma's house meant ice cream floats and left over pie dough to make treats of our own. It also meant yearly trips to the Children's Museum, the Zoo and Connor Prairie. I remember her singing and clapping her hands every time we were around. She is the most upbeat person I have ever met in my life.

Even though she is gone now, for me she is finally with me completely again. I can talk to her and believe she is listening and understanding in a way she hasn't been able to do in such a very long time. Her family will mss her terribly, but we speak of grandma who existed long ago. Although, we will never forget the wonderful years we all spent with her, I know she must be so grateful to be out of the failing body that kept us all a mystery to her.

Loved forever and never forgotten. For it will be impossible to not pass on to our children the wonderful, loving and generous person she has always been.

Love,
Jamie
Granddaughter