Just thinking about my

GRANDMA

Joe and I spent the weekend in California visiting my maternal grandma. This is the woman that I love more than any other woman in the world. She has taught me so much.

She is old, frail, toothless and has been in a nursing home for a couple of years. She probably is a sad sight to most but she was so beautiful to me. She is in the late stages of Alzheimer's and doesn't remember much....but I have so many memories that I will treasure forever.

I LOVE YOU GRANDMA!

JUST A FEW OF MY MEMORIES :

• Endless hours of playing Scrabble at her dining room table. ( I credit her for my love of words, spelling and reading.)




• Being taught the "correct" way to hold a pen/pencil.




• Her cute Canadian accent and the way she says words like "been" phonetically.




• Politics! If anyone is wondering where this obsession began...it was grandma. Nobody debated current events with me better than her. She did her share of running for and holding public offices. BTW..My uncle David told grandma that he was the President of the US when she asked where he works. It was obvious that she remembered that by her response..."that's right!"

• She collected elephants.... just to show how devoted she was to the republican party.

• She LOVED U.S. History (sound familiar...anybody...anybody?)

• I (being the oldest grandchild) was her "#1 grandchild". I do realize that it was luck of the draw that I am the oldest, but I always enjoyed being #1, nonetheless.




• Long talks on the phone and her concern over it being on my "dime". She never quite caught on to the fact that there was a flat monthly phone rate.




• Her visits as a child. She never missed a year (until she and my mom had an ugly falling out....those of you who know my mom will not be surprised by this.)




• She always sent a practical gift for birthdays and Christmas. My November birthday always brought me a French Toast brand coat , BUT there was always a surprise ($$$) in the pocket. Clothes for Christmas also with a "surprise" in the pockets.
  

• She loved to cook and bake and was a WONDERFUL cook. This seems to be a family trait. Trust me, of all of the family traits, Joe is VERY lucky that this is the one that got passed down through the generations.

Her beautiful blue eyes that are still as pretty today as they ever were. It was so good to just sit next to her for hours and read to her from a WWII book that I picked up from the book store. I "caught her up" on my family, politics and current world events (it's probably a good think she didn't know what I was talking about) . I had a great time and am so glad that I went.

I miss my grandma the way that I have always known her, but I know that she will soon be able to go home and I will one day join her and she will be as independent and feisty as ever!