Book prologue

They often say that life is short, just a vapor in time. For some people that is very true, then others live their life to the fullest. I see some lives lived to the age of 90 and above that you couldn't really look back on and weave much substance together. Then there is my grandmother. She has lived a rich and colorful life. the heartaches she has indured did not make her bitter toward life, only stronger. The other lives she has touched on her journey have been many, and those lives are better off for it! Thoughts of my grandmother always brings a smile to my face. She has taught me more than she will ever know and is an inspiration in my Christian walk. I only hope that a little bit of her will live on in her family and friends she has made along the way. Though I can't see how anyone who has met and talked with her could ever walk away the same person. The bible tells us that we are known by our fruits. My grandmother has produced many orchards in her lifetime. When you look upon her face, you can see the love of God that she carries around daily. She always has a smile for you and seems content, no matter her current situation. For this reason, I chose to name this book "Heaven came down.....", because this is a song she used to sing to us when we were kids. A line in the song says, Heaven came down and Glory filled my soul. To me this sums up the life my grandmother has lived so far, because to look at her she really looks as if her soul is full of glory. I know she has been the glory of this family and we all love her very much.

The following pages are based on the life my grandmother has lived, the tragedys and trials when she was just a young girl losing her mother. Her father was in the Spanish-American war and had gone on to marry till death several times. Life became too much for him and he finally ended it at the age of 43. She had to endure anger from her grandfather, who was a moonshiner and had no patience. She was shipped off to an orphanage home when family rejected her and after 3 years was adopted by a family in West Virgina. Her life improves when she meets my grandfather, a coal-miner and they finally settle down on a farm and raise 9 kids.Through a lot of heartaches, sickness and tragedy, my grandmother kept her family together and taught them to be wonderful people. She never felt like the world owed her anything for the things she went through or felt sorry for herself. She has had a very colorful, interesting life and I feel her story needs to be told. I hope in some small way, this repays her for all the wonderful things she has done for my family over the years, she is our Glory...