Paradox? or Paradise?

We were very sad to hear that Naaman's Grandmother, Dot Wilden Eades passed away on Saturday, February 20, 2010 at the age of 86. Grandma Eades was an incredible woman. We was always doing service and thinking of others. She was very talented. She was a great cook. She loved to can all her fruits and vegetables. I will forever miss her apple butter. For as long as she could, she always had a project in hand. She loved to crochet, knit and sew quilts. She made a quilt for each of her great grandchildren until 7 years ago when she was diagnosed with alzheimers. Caleb and Aspen will always cherish these quilts. Grandma Eades lived in a small town called Paradox, Colorado. It is also known as Paradise (so they called it). Paradox is a town that is like no other. It is an hour outside of Moab, Utah. I will do my best to describe Paradox. Paradox is a valley that is surrounded on all sides by steep cliff red mountains, much like the ones in Moab. The valley is almost the same size as the Salt Lake Valley, yet there is maybe a total of 30 homes. There is a post office, a small elementary school, a very small LDS church, a cemetery and many cows. Grandma was born and raised here and lived here the rest of her life. Grandma loved it in Paradox, but I am sure that she will now enjoy the real Paradise. We love Grandma and will miss her so much.

This last Monday I spent the day packing so that we could go to Paradox. We left early Tuesday morning and arrived at Grandpa's house close to noon. We spent the afternoon with Grandpa Eades and Naaman's parents. This was the first time that my Lil' Gilbert got to meet his Grandfather who he was named after. Gilbert Leeander Eades, who is now 95 years old. Grandpa gave little Gilbert a little porcelain shoe with his birth information written on it. Grandpa was so excited to give this to me and Gilbert. I think that Grandpa was ticked to have his grandson named after him. It was so great to spend this time with him. By the end day the house was full of all of Naaman's extended family. It was great to see everyone. That night we drove to another very small town 30 minutes away called Naturita, to stay in a motel. I laughed because Caleb kept calling it a 1/2 star hotel. What do you expect for such a small town?

Grandma's funeral was on Wednesday February 24, 2010. It was short, but very sweet. Many great memories and words were said. After the funeral we didn't want to bombard Grandpa so we went back to the motel and spent the rest of the day with cousins. We all enjoyed it. Thursday morning we packed up our things and went to Grandpa's house to eat breakfast. We took pictures and said our goodbye's as we left for home. Our hearts and prayers still remain with Grandpa. I am sure that things will be quiet and lonesome for him now. Oh, how I wish we didn't live so far away.