April 7, 2011: Beulah Van Voorhis

I found out this morning that my great grandmother (Liesl’s great, great grandmother!) Beulah Van Voorhis passed away yesterday.  We had found out over the weekend that she was not doing well and that she was not likely to pull through but we didn’t really know for sure how badly she was doing.  We did hear that she had a new kitten that she was fighting hard to be able to stay around to take care of.

Beulah was actually my step great grandmother.  My mother’s mother’s mother died of appendicitis when my grandmother was very little and my great grandfather Roy Van Voorhis, who died on November 9, 1964, had remarried.  So Beulah was the only great grandparent that I really ever knew to any degree.  When I was very little I had spent some time with my mother’s father’s parents who were both still around then, but I did not know them very well as they were quite a bit older – at least in my memory.

My memories of Beulah include her house which I visited on several occasions but have not been to for many years now.  It is sad that Liesl did not get a chance to at least meet her as she was the last of her generation in the family.  I can remember her dog who, I’m sure, has been gone for a long time now.  She had an extensive salt and pepper shaker collection and a lot of cacti growing in her house.  In fact, she had one entire room given over to growing them.

This morning Dominica met with our new potential pediatrician for the kids.  We are not very happy with our old one and with the new baby coming it is the perfect time to find a new one to handle both of the kids.  Liesl has barely needed to see anyone since we came to Texas so it has not been a very big deal yet.

This evening, Dominica, Souder, Watson, Liesl and I drove down to have dinner at the Olive Garden on the Northwest Highway.  It has been a really long time since Dominica or I have eaten at an Olive Garden.

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