Grammy lived a very full life. I have memories of visiting her with my grandparents when I was pretty young and she lived in California. I remember when I would get there, she would open the refrigerator and freezer, show me all the goodies she stocked up for me, and tell me to help myself and feel free to get whatever I want, whenever I want. I was pretty shy about this strange unknown woman who I only saw once ever couple of years or so, so I would still whisper to my grandma to make sure it was okay if I went over and got a popcicle from the freezer. Grammy would laugh when she was me do that.
Grammy moved up to Vancouver to be closer to her sons sometime in my early driving years. I remember going over to visit her now and then (although admittedly, it was not as often as it should have been). I remember sometimes she would take me out for lunch or invite me over to swim at her trailer park pool. Every time that I would ride with her in her car, the Beach Boys song about the "Little Old Lady From Pasadena" would suddenly take on a sense of realism.
She was a very creative woman. It's no wonder that our family has so many artists, storytellers, costume designers, and singers in it. She painted, sewed clothing, made quilts, and told stories that were wild beyond imagination, but still fun to sit through.One of these days, I'll have to get the family together to write down some of her most memorable ones (did you know she and Betty White were once very close? Or that my grandpa went to school with Shirley Temple?)
One year, shortly after I had left for college, she decided to paint a picture to send to me. It was a picture of a little old-fashioned covered bridge covered in snow. While she was still working on it, I called my grandma to tell her about a trip I had taken to Michigan and all the stupid snow that held me up and if I never see snow again, that would be alright with me. Grammy heard this and felt bad about sending me a snow picture, so she stopped work on it and started a new one for me. When I found out, I was horrified that I would have said something that seemed like I wouldn't appreciate a thoughtful gift like that. I told Grandma to please let Grammy know that I didn't mean that I wouldn't like her painting and to please finish it and send it to me. I got both of them in the mail. When I told Grammy how much my roommates and neighbors loved the paintings she made me, she sent me a few more "to keep or sell, if you would like". I kept them. They've hung in all my apartments ever since.
I'm going to miss Grammy, but I'm not really sad for her. A little sad for us because I know her absence will be noticable (she was small, but very fiesty and never let us forget that she was there). She lived many lifetimes in her 98 years. She found her true love in Gramps (who I never knew because he passed a few months before I was born). She had an amazing family that continues to grow and grow, full of people who loved her and cared for her as she aged. She watched her husband and both her sons go on before her and she's been ready for years to make the journey herself. She was a very proud woman and never wanted to get to the point where she would have to depend on others for her full time care, and at 98, it was beginning to come to that. I think Grammy chose her moment, when she was ready, and made sure it happened on her terms. I can't imagine that she would have it any other way, and the angels ready to escort her home had no choice but to wait for her to give the word.
She was well loved and will be dearly missed. And I have to chuckle just a little to imagine the kind of hell that she's already raising with those unsuspecting angels.
Happy Birthday, Grammy! We're going to miss you, you feisty old woman.
No comments:
Post a Comment