Sarah "Sally" McCrandall Alvarez

My mom called me six hours ago to tell me that my grandmother, who helped my mom raise me, died early this morning. She had suffered in the dark recesses of Alzheimer's disease over the last ten years and, for all intents and purposes, left life as she knew it long ago.

But knowing that her passing has returned her to her glorious and wonderful self eases the pain only so much. She was my "pal," a good woman if ever there was one, and knowing that she is no longer of this earth hurts to the core.