It is the last weekend of October in 2007. I had just gotten off the phone with my grandma. Her foot had fallen asleep so she decided to crawl or hop (don't know which) to another spot in the house. It was not that far but then tragedy occurred. She ended up falling and breaking her leg. That was on Saturday.
During the next 14 months, my grandma's health went downhill quickly. She went from a vibrant lady to a shell of her former self.
Christmas Eve 2008 - I went to visit her. The family knew it was only a matter of time. I left in the early afternoon so we could get ready for our annual Christmas Eve service my family attended.
During the singing of Silent Night, I checked my phone and saw I had missed a call from my aunt. As I sat in one of the rooms away from the sanctuary, I got the news that I had been dreading and expecting. My grandma had passed peacefully that evening. She waited until all of the family had left the room. Then she went to meet her Maker and to see my grandpa once again.
This week's theme is 10 things I would say to my mom. I talk to my mom so I changed it to my grandma. She's been gone for over 5 years and there are times I really miss her.
1. Thank you so much for instilling the love of cooking for my family. We would talk on a daily basis. Most of the time the conversations revolved around me planning what I was going to cook for Hubby, Know-it-All, and Crazy One. I had my last conversation about menu planning in October of 2007 and I miss it.
2. Know-It-All misses you so much. During the last 14 months of her life, Know-it-All (4/5 years old at that time) were best buddies. Before she really went downhill, he would sit on her lap and she would wheel him around the nursing room's dining room.
3. How much I miss you.
4. How much I love you. We didn't always have the best relationship. We are/were both stubborn in our own ways. Even though there were times we didn't see eye to eye, I still loved you.
5. I would ask you - Why was there a huge bottle of alcohol in your bathroom cupboard? My grandparents didn't drink or if they did I was oblivious to the fact they were. After her fall, it was evident she was not going to be able to live in her house anymore. My mom, sister, and I with the help of a few other family members took on the task of cleaning out her house. My mom was cleaning out the bathroom and found this huge bottle of alcohol. I just wish I knew who it belonged to and why it was there. It's a mystery that will never be solved.
6. How much I cherish a memory from 9/11/2001. Wait a minute, I cherish a memory from 9/11. The day America was changed.
It was my second year of teaching. We were suppose to have a reading night so I had planned to go visit my grandparents after work but before the reading night. I had made some baked macaroni and cheese for our dinner.
Then plans changed because of all of the events of that day. I still visited them that night but was not going to go back to the school. As I was getting ready to leave, a loud sonic boom reverted through the sky. Already scared from all of the events, I chose not to go home. I slept over. Grandma tucked me in as I slept on their blue plaid couch in their living room. I was 26 years old. I needed that act of love. I will cherish her tucking me in.
I never stayed at their house over night after that night. (I live in a town with a major air force base. It was scary living near that base for a while after the events of 9/11. That's why the sonic boom scared me so much. It ended up being a plane breaking the sound barrier so Air Force One could fly through our skies.)
7. I treasure your teddy bears I inherited from you. I have a couple of her teddy bears. They are up on a special shelf in the kitchen where they are proudly displayed so I can see them whenever I'm in the kitchen.
8. I love finding your notes. I have a box full of her notes she wrote right before she died. I also have a cook book of hers that she has left little notes in. It makes me feel as though she is still here.
9. I wish I could sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee with you. I don't remember if grandma was a coffee drinker. I know grandpa was. Grandma would make a pot of coffee for grandpa and one of the neighbors and they would sit and talk. I did not start drinking coffee until right before she died so I never sat down and drank coffee with them. And just talk.
10. Since I started this blog post, I have seen irises all over the place. Her favorite flower was an iris.
Next week's listicles are 10 Things that are on if I was in charge of the remote.
