Sadness...much celebration...a bit of laughter....

Sadness:

My beloved grandmother passed away tonight. She was 92 years old and it wasn't unexpected, but it was still a shock. My grandparents were a big part of my childhood and I will greatly miss her on this earth. Heaven is rejoicing while we come to terms with waiting to see her again.


Much Celebration:

My grandmother had a love for her family that was unmatched. After every family outing, she'd love to stop by Friendly's (restaurant in upstate NY) and get ice cream. My sister and I decided to honor that memory and met for ice cream late this evening. We cried some tears but laughed at so many memories involving Grandma. She was an amazing woman who taught me so much about faith and caring for others.

My grandmother LOVED Perry and I knew he was a keeper when I brought him home to meet my parents and he fell in love with Grandma. One of her greatest enjoyments was watching sports on TV (and attending the Syracuse-West Virginia games in person). Perry, being a sports nut himself, would watch the games with her...and, unlike me, actually be able to hold an intelligent conversation with her about any game, any sport.


My brother Eric was her only grandson and years younger than most of the other grandkids. Grandma moved in with my parents during the years that my sister and I moved out to college. Eric and Grandma developed such a tight bond. His long hair in high school drove her nuts (she got him a hair trimming kit for Christmas one year and only she could have gotten away with that!); but, short of cutting his mophead, he would have done anything for her and she would have done anything for him.

This picture was taken at my brother's wedding. We were all interested in getting a picture of her with all her great-grandchildren. She was more interested in hearing what the kids had to say. I remember being frustrated at not getting a better picture, but now, this is one of my favorite pictures of her (Carson is the kiddo in the yellow/blue plaid vest).

For only having one grandson, Grandma ended up with mostly all boys in the next generation of grandkids. Up until Elise came along, Darcy was her only great-granddaughter. Darcy was fortunate enough to live near Grandma for many years and they have a very special relationship.

I'm so glad we spent time with Grandma in Maine last summer. Having lived near her during my childhood, it was really hard to not see her as often in my adult years. I missed her terribly and often let life get in the way of keeping in touch with her better than I should have. We all really enjoyed our time with her last summer.

The kids really developed some very strong memories of their Great-Grandma Carson on this visit. They were both so saddened to hear of her passing because they knew what an amazing Grandma she was; they loved the time the spent with her last summer.

A bit of laughter:

Elise saw my tear stained face at one point this evening and asked why my nose was all red. I told her it was because I'd been crying. She asked, "So, are you going to look like Rudolph every time someone dies?!?" It was just the thing to turn my tears into laughter.

I will hug my loved ones a bit closer today as I remember that each day is a gift.