Sunday, March 25, 2012

grama

i've tried to start this post at least a dozen times now-
there isn't a way to put our story into words and do it justice
and a finality in pressing "publish" that i can't seem to come to terms with...

i've lost my grama.
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 after 96 years filled with adventure and love
she was ready
and passed in peace
...

a very few of the moments i hope to always remember...


that she gave me my first bath


 playing jacks in her carport in charlotte


our back and forth pen-pal letters 


 flying solo to spend my 12th birthday with her and she meeting me at the airport, balloon in hand


saturday morning breakfasts- on school vacations when she'd make my scrambled eggs and then later, when dad and i would go and cook for her and the three of us would start at the day together and in the end when she wanted the company more than the food


when she'd pick me up from my acting class and we'd share clam chowder, from clancy's, for lunch


our trip to hawaii


the subscription to VOGUE, which she'd ordered for me, but had delivered to her, so we could go through it together


our hunt for the perfect tea room- rating the linens and quiche


teaching me to sew, the right way! and together sewing my junior prom dress from fabric she'd brought back from japan 50 years earlier
then, my high school graduation dress and our last project, my wedding napkins


that she tied my wedding bouquet


sharing strawberry ice cream at cobies

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 we were two peas in a pod- determined, creative, adventurous...
we were great friends, loved each other beyond words and lit up each other's lives.

when i was born, shortly after she'd lost my grandfather she'd said i was her angel-
i'd told grama we were expecting shortly before she passed and i sure hope that our baby will come into this world with some of her spirit.
...

 i am so grateful to my mum and dad who so greatly encouraged our friendship, especially when i was very young, so that our relationship was able to blossom into what it was. i am also grateful for their selflessness in welcoming grama into our family home and becoming her caregivers as her health declined. 
i can only hope to follow their example with my own children, and when it comes time to care for our parents.
...
i'd once posted some favorite photographs of my grandparents, in their heyday, vacationing at their favorite spot on cape cod
revisit here

2 comments:

Orchard Cove Photography said...

She was quite a lady and will be tremendously missed. xo

blair said...

sweetest post ever...and you're the sweetest granddaughter ever for writing it. hugs to your healing heart. xoxo