Good bye Gram

My dearest Grandma died in the night. She was 85. I loved her dearly.

She was a good, kind, generous woman of great spiritual faith. I know now exactly where she is and feel a great peace knowing that. My Grandmother had a very hard life but I never once heard her complain or compare her life to others. She believed if you didn't have anything good to say about someone, you should say nothing at all. She had great wit, however, and made frequent brilliant observations about the world and people.

She was very conservative in her values and had strong views about how people, especially women, should conduct themselves (I generally always agreed with her and it has been said that I have her values). Over the years, she frequently commented on my hair (loved it, or hated it), what I was wearing, and always commented that I should wear socks (I usually don't) if I didn't want to catch a cold.

She was, of course, a phenomenal cook. She was always so generous and was always tucking $20 bills in my pocket, from her small income. She knew I liked chocolate and always pulled a box of something or other out of the drawer when I was home. I loved having a piece of candy or a cookie with her.

I never heard her raise her voice once. She was a very gentle person. I aspire to be like her in so many ways.

She loved her family above all else and was a devoted wife, sister, mother, grand-mother, great grandmother and so on. She lost her own mother very young, as a teen, and she spoke about her mother frequently through the years. I am pleased to imagine them together now, sharing the days together again...

She was a person I would call content in life. This is so rare and something we should all strive for, to be grateful for all we have and not covet so much material and social status. She was precious and good and I will miss her.