Last Goodbye
         I stand outside and look around at my family and the beautiful Minnesota farms that surround the church cemetery. My grandpa holds a wooden box filled with ashes and sets it in a freshly dug hole that my family and I dug in the richest soil in the country. I feel lucky to be able to come to say a final goodbye to an amazing woman - my great- grandma, Virginia or “GG.” I wipe my tear-stricken face and watch as everyone floods into the old, country church. I began to think of all the history connected to my great-grandmother. My great-grandmother lived to be just a few months short of one-hundred years old. She was definitely not an ordinary person; in her life she did many amazing things.
         On July 28, 1915 a baby girl was born to Midwest farmers. Her father, though capable of serving in WWI, was needed on the farm and did not end up fighting. However, later in life her brothers would fight in WWII. My great-grandma was the first born of five siblings. They were raised on a farm which grew diversified crops and had numerous animals. My great–grandma and her four siblings were all taught to be hard workers. She grew up walking long distances to her one room school house; many times through terrible storms. She grew up without cars, television, phones or any technology people take for granted today. Her family had an outhouse, horses, and a warm fireplace. They rarely got bored as my great-grandma and her siblings had lots of chores and homework. Many people today might consider her childhood a challenge, but in those days they were just a regular, farm family.
         When Virginia was barely an adult, she left the farm to continue her education. It was a new thing for women in the United States to be able to pursue their education and be employed at that time. There were limited jobs for her, especially living in the rural Midwest. She chose to become a teacher, so she went to what was called ‘Normal Training’. This allowed her to teach grades one through eight in one-room country schools. She taught until she was twenty-four and decided then to marry a man named, Marlo. At the time, the state law required that no married women could teach in one room country schools, so my great-grandma had to quit her job.
Marlo and Virginia were blessed with three children. Ann (my grandmother) was the oldest, next was Larry, and lastly, Alice was born. They lived a wholesome life in rural Minnesota. Similar to Virginia’s dad’s farm, they were self-sufficient and grew almost everything they needed. My great-grandma stayed home, cooked, cleaned, did farm chores, and raised the kids. She also took night and Saturday classes to get a teaching degree. One seemingly simple night in January, just Virginia, Alice, and Marlo were home since Ann and Larry had returned to college after the Christmas break. Alice and Virginia were horribly shocked as they watched Marlo grab at his chest, trip, and fall….all the way down the stairs…..to his death. Grief filled the family as they learned about his death from a heart attack at the young age of only forty-five. Virginia was all alone. All she had was $100 in the bank (in her husband’s name) and three kids to put through college.
Virginia began teaching again, still taking classes, and stayed on the farm for five years until her youngest daughter was married. Once an empty nester and alone, Virginia went deeper into her studies. She found a new love, a love for travel. She took every class she could that would help her understand other cultures and even traveled to different countries around the world. She ended up traveling to Denmark, Italy, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Japan, Thailand, Philippians, Scotland, and Israel. Once she even went to Liberia. There she taught missionary children, lived in the bush and occasionally dined on iguana.
My great-grandma was a very religious Lutheran. Without her strong beliefs, she would not have been the woman she was. Through her faith it was important to do everything she could to help others, and to ‘love thy neighbor’. She grew up in a time when one was expected to be racist and not treat African-Americans with the same amount of respect as others. Despite this, my great-grandma did not think this was right. She knew a man who was an African-American from the South. He had grown up in a southern town and, after medical school, returned to help his community. As a retired school teacher, my great–grandmother also wanted to help the African-American community. So she traveled to Mississippi where she volunteered at a school on the ‘Black side of the tracks’.
One day Virginia walked into a public library and selected some books to check out and use at the new school’s library. At the checkout desk she was refused. Then a white man behind her made a point of showing her that he had a gun. She left the books on the counter and made her way home only to be followed by that man. In the end she was safe, but later learned the man was a known member and leader of the KKK. He wanted her to know he was not happy that she was helping Blacks. At the new school, she helped teach and tutor in math and English. She also helped to establish their first library, mainly by asking family and friends to send books.
Throughout her life she sponsored and helped many people across the world. Virginia put one doctor through medical school and two nurses through nursing school. These health care providers live in Colombia and were a part of Doctors Without Borders.  She also supported the Jimmy Carter Foundation, Techno-serve (which helps people start businesses), and dozens of other organizations. For twenty years she was the co–chair of a peace study and taught English to refugees. She was also involved with historic preservation in her hometown. Throughout her life she always kept an open mind about people and never judged anyone.
During her incredible life, she stayed healthy and always tried to keep learning new things. When she was fifty years old, she learned how to snow ski, and she water skied until she was seventy years old. Through her life she had a huge passion for reading. She continued to read two to three books a week until she was ninety-nine years old. She spent her final five years at an assisted living facility where she always participated in the activities and continued to make new friends everywhere she went until she passed away. She completed the newspaper crossword puzzle every day until she couldn’t write anymore. Virginia walked three miles every day until she fell when she was ninety–five. After that she went on daily walks until she was ninety – eight. Continuing to learn was always her passion.
My great–grandma was given many awards. After she died, I helped sort through some of her boxes. I was surprised at how many plaques she had. My great-grandma never once bragged or made a big deal about her accomplishments. One of my favorite awards was her ‘Outstanding Senior Citizen’ of the whole county. She was also nominated twice for teacher of the year in the state of Minnesota. She also worked diligently to be financially strong and independent. She was an extraordinary mother of three, grandmother of ten, and a great–grandmother of twenty–two children.    
Virginia died on March 6, 2015 at the age of ninety-nine. Ironically the day she died was the fiftieth anniversary of the march led by Martin Luther King Jr. Throughout her life she always wanted to help people and believed that everyone was equal. She stood up for what she believed in and always tried to do what is right. These are some of the qualities I look up to and strive for myself. Even when she could have given up, Great-grandma stayed strong and followed her beliefs. She did not let others tell her what she could or could not do.  My great-grandmother is a hero to me and many others. She touched lives of countless people and made a positive impact everywhere she went. If more people were like my great–grandmother, I believe the world would be a better place.
Another tear runs down my red face, as I realize how lucky I was to know her. During the last years of Great-grandma’s life, I got to be close to her and have been forever changed by knowing her. I look back at the grave which now has beautiful flowers in every color. Almost everybody has entered the church, but before I follow them, I say one last goodbye to my great-grandma, my hero.