Our GG

Much of my next few posts are for my own benefit. They will be long because I've got a lot I want to remember about my sweet, feisty, funky, tell-it-like-it-is Grandma who passed away on July 29, 2009. She had a heart attack while getting her hair done at the beauty parlor, which makes me smile. I can't think of a better place for it to have happened. I am so grateful that she was near my mom when this happened. I'm so glad she was not here at home, by herself. While struggling with this loss and the shock of it all, I've been trying to remind myself that she is happier now. She's with her sweetheart, who she hasn't seen in twenty years. She's with her mom, dad and siblings. She's with her Heavenly Father. While I know she enjoyed spending time with her kids, grand kids, and great-grand kids, I also know that she was lonely much of the time and that she was ready for this. She was in Texas for almost four months, visiting my mom and Aunt Susan. She even spent a week in Colorado with Audrie and my Uncle Dennis. It's like she was making the rounds one last time. She lived a full, happy life for 80 years, so I should be happy for her. But that's hard. My grandma was the life of the party, always. I am going to miss her so much. I am so grateful for the chance I had to talk on the phone with her a few days before she passed away. She was busy telling me that she'd turned into a "junkie"; with candy stashed in the drawers of her dresser in her room at my parents house. She said she was shrinking so it didn't matter if she ate more junk food than usual because she wasn't gaining weight anymore. She was very happy about that. Grandma was such a big part of our lives. We always said that they day she died would be a bad one, and we were right. None of us expected this to happen so soon. It has made us all stop and think about where our priorities are and what the important things in life really are. Life really is so very fragile and I want to make sure I cherish my family and loved ones every single day, because you never know when they will be called home. We all whined and complained at times about how ornery she could be, but man we loved her so much. A few things I'll never ever forget about my grandma:

1. Fighting with my siblings over who got to put the pink tape in her hair before she went to bed every night.

2. She used to drive me crazy and make me so mad by singing this song all over the house:

"Down by the seaside sifting sand,

All the little children love Marianne..."

I used to get so mad at her for singing that song! I used to think that if people heard her singing it, they'd think I thought everyone loved me. Funny how little kids' minds work.

3. Eating See's candies with her.

4. Our weekly lunch/movie/temple dates.

5. I don't remember where we were at in this particular memory, I think Aunt Susan's house, but we were getting ready for bed and she was saying her prayers when she started tooting like crazy. I was cracking up and although she was silent, her shoulders were shaking from laughing so hard. After her "amen", she climbed into bed next to me and we laughed while she continued to toot for what seemed like forever.

6. Another tooting memory....walking through Target and her passing gas without having any warning. She would just keep on walking like nothing was wrong, and then when we would get to an aisle where no people were at, she would bust up laughing.

7. Grandma LOVED Sage. She called her "her baby". When we spoke on the phone a few days ago, she said, "give my baby a kiss for me. It makes me mad that she won't remember her GG when I get back". What makes me mad, is that now she really won't. It will have to be my job to tell Sage stories of her GG and of how much she loved her. Sage loved her GG, too. She loved her high pitched laugh the most and would always reach for her to hold her. I wish GG could have seen her walking, she would be so proud.

8. I will never forget going through her thousands and thousands of purses. We'd go into her closet when we were little at her old house in Peoria and play dress up in her shoes and purses. We'd always find Double mint gum stashed away in pretty much every pocket. Yesterday, Amber Audrie and I went to her house to look for her insurance papers and ended up doing that very thing....looking through her purses. If you know my grandma, you know she's got expensive taste. She's got quite the collection of super cute purses that I'm sure we'll all be carrying around for years. Plus....we found Double mint gum in multiple drawers. :)

9. I think I'm like my grandma in a lot of ways. Craig always calls me "Mary", not because it's the first part of my name, but because I'm an OCD cleaner just like she is. I didn't realized just how much alike we were until we were going through drawers yesterday and found: jewelry boxes labeled with what jewelry was in what box; panty hose in Ziploc bags to keep them separated; labels on EVERYTHING, etc. I don't do those exact things, primarily because I don't wear jewelry or panty hose, but you should see my sock and sports bra drawer. :) It would make her proud.

10. Her long fingernails were the absolute best!!! We all loved having her tickle our arms/backs.

11. My grandma was the best cook around. No matter how often we would all try to replicate specific meals, they never turned out quite as good as when GG made it, even if she did put onions on EVERYTHING! Speaking of onions, any time she made chicken enchiladas, she would do half with onions, half without-- just for me.

Sage and her GG shopping at the mall

Sage and her GG again, at Aunt Amber's houseAt my 26th birthday celebration, GG is in the blue. My parents and family will be driving down Sunday. We will go together to GG's house to take care of things, and then drive to Safford on Wednesday for her funeral and burial. She will finally be next to Grandpa again.

To my Grandma,

I love you so much. I will miss you everyday and will always remember you. You were the best Grandma I could have ever hoped for. You'd better give Grandpa a big old smack on the lips and you two had better keep an eye out on us. Save spots for us all. Love you.