To say that she was the world's best Grandma doesn't describe it....
I knew when I was blogging about my Grandpa that I was going to be doing another post very shortly for my Grandma, I hoped that it wouldn't happen that way, but I knew in my heart it would. The day my Grandpa passed away, I was at work when I got the call, my co-workers asked me what was wrong and I shared the news with them. I immediately said, "If my Grandmother lasts a week, I'll be shocked." Well, 9 days later, she went to join her husband and I am happy for her and sad for me all at the same time. Every moment of those 9 days, I wanted to call her up and beg her not to go, to tell her that I still have so much more to learn from her, but I knew it would not be fair, I knew she would teach me my final lesson very shortly. When you believe you should be with someone, than always be with them, no matter where they lead you nor how painful or hard it may be at times....
My grandmother was an amazing woman and I have so many cherished memories of her. Even though she is gone, she will always be with me because I feel that I am very similar to her in many ways.
Growing up, I have such fond memories of spending the week at "Camp Grandma". My cousins and I would all spend a week at the cottage and make too much noise for Grandpa, but just the right amount for Grandma! One year when I was 6 or 7, I showed up later in the evening when all my cousins were already in their PJ's and watching a movie with some popcorn. Grandma urged me to quickly get my PJ's on, so I could sit with my cousins and eat the popcorn before it was all gone.
I remember my Grandma taking me swimming at the little beach after dark, when the water was still "bath water" warm and the fish lit up the water. She was always the tannest grandma around! One time me and a couple of cousins (Kathryn, I think) went down to Florida for a school break - Grandma took us all to Vero Beach for the day and we all got "sun-burned", well, we thought it was sunburn until my grandma discovered that her skin was red also....it was immediately decided that we did not have sunburn, we all had "Wind-burn" because our grandma did NOT GET sunburn.
At Latimer point, I was always in such awe of my grandmother when it was time to sell tickets for the Annual Latimer Point picnic, she was the one who sold the tickets and collected all the cash, growing up I though it was the best job in the world!! She was so important and everyone wanted to talk to her and ask her advice on things. She would always introduce me to however she was talking to, I always thought that was neat - especially when I was a little kid. One year, she got us the 1st tickets, #1! It was pretty cool!
When I was old enough to drive, I would spend as much time as possible at Latimer Point, even though I worked all summer, I was determined to spend time with my grandparents. On nights when I could get off by 9pm, I would drive over and spend the night with them, sometimes I would do this for weeks on end. Grandma would always wait up for me, just to make sure that I made it home safe. She would always take such good care of us at the beach, there was always a huge basket of sunscreen, a fridge full of snacks and a host of bikes to ride. I would remember about 5pm in the evening she would start the appetizers, it was typically cheese, crackers and all sorts of good snacking food!!
While in college, I would try and take the train down a couple times a summer, just to spend the weekend or the day with the them. She was always so happy to see me!
After college, I decided to move to San Diego, everyone else thought I would be back soon, but I knew that I would not. Saying goodbye to my grandma was the hardest thing. I remember the day like it was yesterday, I said goodbye to my family and my grandma was the last person for me to say goodbye to, I turned to her and just completely broke down crying. She took my into her arms and whispered some grandmotherly words of encouragement. I almost decided not to move, just because I didn't want to leave her.
The first time I brought Ryan back to Latimer Point, I told him on the plane ride - "just wait until you get to my grandma's house, she always has some excellent baked goods". After a long flight we arrived and much to my horror there were not any baked goods. Ryan and I were hungry so we started nosing around looking for something to eat and that is when Grandma made us corn muffins- nothing special, just the corn muffins out of the Jiffy Box. Ryan turned to me and said "these are the best corn muffins I have ever had!" And you know what? They were!
My Grandmother was a kindergarten teacher for many years. I remember one time, I was about 4 or 5 and I spent the day in Mrs. Meehan's class. She was so happy to be there with her class and I was so happy and proud to tell everyone that Mrs. Meehan is my grandmother.
Even with such a large family, she never missed a birthday, anniversary, Valentine's day, St. Patricks day or Easter card. More often that not, the cards were filled with confetti!! She always bought us Victoria's Secret PJ's for Christmas. Instead of stockings she would fill up these giant gift bags with candy, pens, post it notes (I still have a couple of them left) and all sorts of other trinkets that we could not live without. She would always sent me my annual Latimer Point paraphernalia consisting of hats and T-Shirts.
Before my grandparents retired to Florida there was always a HUGE celebration at Occum Lane for Thanksgivings with all the traditional fixings. That day was always one of the happiest all year for me, perhaps that is why I have ALWAYS cooked a huge, traditional Thanksgiving dinner every since I was 21.
I am going to miss the matching outfits that she would purchase for all the great grand kids, her excitement when I would visit her and she would get to show off something new that she found or purchased, her words of wisdom that she would give me when I was having a rough time, the nice chats that we would have on the phone when she would fill me in on all the family gossip and the love and strong sense of family that she instilled in me. Gram - I hope that I can be at least 1/4 of the woman that you are. I love you and miss you so much already!
