I don't feel lucky right now...nope, I don't.
My beloved grandmother passed away this week. She was 91 years old. As I said to my dad, I get that she was "old". I know she had a lot of health issues. But I wasn't ready for her to go. She was.
I get that. She missed my grandfather, who passed on several years ago, immensely. They had that marriage where you go "Oh, I get it, this is how it's supposed to work" even though they weren't terribly demonstrative with each other. They were, however, very cute together. He would tease her and she would laugh.
She hadn't felt well for a long time. She'd had some falls and some broken bones that any of us would have probably just given up over. She didn't, until now.
I, of all of her grandchildren, was one of the luckiest (and yes I'll argue with y'all about this). I lived next door to my grandmother for several years. Because of that, I spent a lot of time with her, from the time I was a toddler. She watched me while my parents worked, she taught me to read at age 3, she's the reason I graduated from high school when I was 16 - because when I got to school, I was already through first grade. She had been a teacher prior to her marriage, having graduated from teacher's college and then taught, met my grandfather, got married and kept teaching - just in a different way.
She was a generous, loving, Christian woman, really the best example of such a person. When my great-aunt died suddenly shortly after giving birth to her third child, she took on the care for the newborn son and raised him to adulthood, as well as caring for his older brother and sister in varying ways at varying times. They were always my aunt and uncles and there were no differences to her (and therefore to anyone else) between them and the children she gave birth to herself. She loved to read, she loved her family, she had a bit of a temper (strawberry blond hair wasn't there for nothing!) that she kept firmly in check 99.9% of the time, and I was incredibly lucky to have had her in my life. And I miss her.
7 comments:
What a beautiful tribute!
Will you read it at the service?
I used to go and visit her for long chats and I will miss her, too.
Hey Neva - Don't know if I could get through it without blubbering. That's not a pretty sight. We'll see what happens. But thanks for the nice words.
Your grandmother sounds like an incredible woman. I'm sorry for your loss, though those words don't mean much right now.
I agree with Neva, that was a beautiful tribute to a woman who apparent lavished love on those who mattered to her.
Your love will keep her alive beyond her days on this plane.
Pants - thanks. It is hard, but I have to remember that she went when she wanted to, the way she wanted to, with all of her kids around her. You can't really ask for more than that.
Cele - yes, I have great memories and she made sure to give me some family treasures over the years - when I walk in my living room I see her mother's dresser and automatically think of her.
I'm so sorry for your loss. You both clearly meant a lot to each other. I'm sure she would be touched by what you wrote.
Thanks Yvette - hopefully I told her enough when she was here in person how much she meant to me. I tried to.
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