Great-Grandma Murphy
Tuesday, February 6th, 2007
My Great-Grandmother Mary Edith Heywood Murphy passed away on March 21, 1985. She was 88 at the time. She was the first person I ever lost with whom I was close. I remember that it really scared me when my Mom told me that “Grandma” had passed away, without specifying which one. As close as I was with Great Grandma Murphy, it would have been even more unbearable to lose one of my other two Grandmothers. Her service was held on Monday, March 25th in Dayton and her final resting place was at the Mound Hill Cemetery in Eaton. Read the rest of this entry »
Grandma Murphy passed away one year ago today. Our entire family had a difficult time letting go of her, but in the end we all decided that it wouldn’t be her desire to remain on life support – with no chance of waking up. The story below is one that I wrote after the time that she died – but before her viewing and funeral. I first presented it to my Mom at Grandma’s viewing and she later passed it on to her siblings and to Grandpa. It made me feel better to write it, helping me cope with the loss. I will probably never know during my time on Earth if it was wishful thinking, creative writing, or divine intervention that inspired me to write it. Much of what is included in the story is based on factual events – such as Diana and I holding her hand as she passed away, Bev being out of town during her passing while Karen was giving birth to Abby, and the cause of her hospital stay, for instance – only these events are seen from Grandma’s persepctive instead of ours. 
In 1936 both of my Grandparents on my Dad’s side were working for Standard Register in Dayton, Ohio. This is where they met one another and began dating. My Grandfather Francis was living alone in an apartment on Detzen Rd. and my Grandmother Mary Ellen Cline was living with her older sister Marie. They dated for nearly a year before my Grandfather proposed, and after that there was only a short waiting period before they were married. 
My Grandparents, Harold Murphy and Loretta Murlin met around 1941 at a roller skating rink. At first they were only acquaintences, then friends. She was dating another guy and they were not getting along well, so my Grandpa made an obvious and friendly suggestion: “quit dating him – and better yet, start dating me”. And so it began…
I am very fortunate that I had a long and meaningful relationship with both of my Grandmothers. Both were sweet, simple, and unfailingly giving. My Grandma Range (seen with my Dad and me at right) is my Dad’s Mom. My Mom’s Mother was known as Grandma Murphy.