Ruby Boyd Honaker. Behind her in this picture, the great-granddaughter Sasha Priscillia, this is the school she attended as a child. Robinson is where Grandma Honaker's grandparents Boyds, started their family. (Joesph Boyd). This is the Robinson Creek School. Grandma was a very classy lady,always filled with laughter, although shy in many ways as well. :) When you were with her, you could not help but feel welcomed and special. She was so good to everyone. It's no wonder Grandpa fell deeply in love with her. Born an only child, she did have difficultly in knowing how to treat others, however; having the big heart as she did, goodness toward others came natural. I couldn't wait to spend the summers with her on the farm in Virginia. She and I would play the piano late at night and tell stories, and almost daily she'd bake the special cakes for deserts! :) Looking back on our relationship, I'd been lost without this special woman in my life. Our love between worlds still flow like a wide river. :) In every sense of the word, she was a mother for me as well as my own. Is this what grandparents are for? :) To humor and pet us and make us feel special? :) Grandpa and Grandma were together to the end. They deeply cared for one another.

This poodle is "Bandit", Sasha's own poodle. :) She has her dressed in a dress and a ribbon on the top of her head. Sasha was 11 years old and Bandit was around 8 years old. She recently passed away at the age of 16,(Jan.1,2001) This date will always be sadly recalled! (I'll always wonder though, if the red ant attack had not taken place, would she have lived even longer in better health? One summer she was attacked by red ants, blind from age, she had walked into the ant hill, and her screams were muffled into whimpering but was eventually heard. Nevertheless, the ants had envaded her body and she was in a convulsion, and after this attack, she would have the seizures. We watched the change of the behavior sadly. The tail no longer wagged, the barking ended, and she became a robot locked away in the small framed body. Only once during the final months, I heard a small whimper and in the seizures she would yelp). God Bless this little dog! She gave us many years of joy. Like a small child, she would want to follow me to stores and the dentists so, often times I'd take her and leave her in the car if it was not too hot outside. (The day before the new year, I noticed Bandit refused a piece of meat I'd offered her. As I sit wondering why she was ignoring this favorite food, a dream I'd had hours earlier returned to my memory. Grandma Honaker had called out to me, from it seemed to me a valley, and her image surprised me when I seen her with her white hair in a bun. Because I'd never seen her wear her hair this way before! She yells to me, "Your little dog Bandit will be passing over on New years day. Thought I'd tell you this." Shocked, I yelled back to her, "OH NO! This is my birthday! " She shouts back, "Well yeah, I know but, this is the day that has been designated for her, and it can't be changed." (Now as I look back at this little dog, her reluctance to eat, I wondered if this was just a mere dream or; if grandma had in spirit warned me? Between 2 and 3 AM on New years day we lost our Bandit, she passed to the other side as Grandma had warned me. In another seizure she passed away.

(Now I no longer wonder about the animals and where they go after death. They do indeed go to heaven. For those out there that feel the ppl on the otherside communicating with the living is evil, do some soul searching. Grandma's communication with me has eased so much pain that I would have suffered losing this special little dog that had been in our lives for so long. So, I'm very thankful she allowed us to know where our pet will be! I can relax and know for certain that Bandit is in a better place! :)