Grandma

My grandmother was an outstanding woman… And I mean that in the literal sense of the word: she stood out.

In her red crocks and her funny hats, you knew as soon as you saw her that she was someone you’d never forget. She had a smile that lit up a room, and she had a way of talking that was so genuine you’d almost cry out “well, I’ll be jiggered!”

Man I’m going to miss hearing that.

I’ll miss her hugs and I’ll miss her telling everyone they were “a good kid” no matter how old they got.
In her later years, grandma decided that she needed to start downsizing, and instead of buying us presents for holidays (which she wasn’t very good at anyway, who else remembers the year she gave all us kids towels for Christmas??) she started giving us things she had around the house…
This, also, lead to some interesting gifts.

Like the year she gave my parents used video tapes…

But I particularly loved the year she gave me her collection of cream and sugar dishes. She sat down with me and told me the story behind each set, and how she’d ended up with them, and as we got to the end, she held up one set and said “and THIS one I put in my purse at the restaurant!”
She never was one for following conventional rules, she always did things a little outside the box

I like to think maybe I got a little of that from her.

When we gather as a family now, I keep waiting for her to interject with something completely unrelated to the topic of discussion.

But she’s not there

.
And as sad as that makes me, I’m happy too, because I know she’s with the love of her life, and I know that’s all she ever wanted.
They were meant to be, those two… Grandma told me once that her sister was completely scandalized when she let [grandpa] kiss her on their first date.
And what happened after, to me, sums up her personality so completely….
Her sister demanded to know “ How could you kiss him, you just met him!!”
And my Grandma, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world said “Well, I saw him at the post office once.”
Grandma made the world make her OWN kind of sense, and that’s what I will miss about her most of all.
Thanks for being exceptional Grandma. I love you.

Addendum: I read this tribute to my grandmother at her Memorial Service. She passed away from a massive brain hemorrhage on June 6th, 2014, a few weeks short of her 90th Birthday.