Grandma

My Grandma, who is my only surviving grandparent, has taken a turn for the worse and they don't believe she will make it through the day. Noah, my sister Vita, and I are flying out to Ohio tomorrow to be with the family. We might be back by Wednesday... no one can really say. I'm very glad that during my last trip to Ohio I went a few times to see her and even got pictures of her with Noah. She LOVES babies, especially boys. She didn't remember me, but my son sure brightened her day. He was too shy to sit with her, but he wasn't too shy to eat her pretzels! She also did a bit of a magic trick for him and showed him how she could make her teeth disappear. Noah was fascinated and she sure cracked up me and my dad with that stunt.

I'm sad that I can't be there to say goodbye to her, but I sent some flowers with my goodbye on the card. Maybe when someone reads the name on the card she'll remember who I am and know that I love her. I would also like to share a few memories I've got about my Grandma.

When I was around 5 or 6 Grandma lived with us for awhile. She had hurt her knee and was healing up slowly so we offered to help her out until she got better. I don't remember much, but I remember how purple her knee was! I also remember her sitting outside on the swing watching us play for hours. She loves kids. Ben and I picked a bunch of Lily of the Valley one Mother's Day and walked over to her house... they were wrapped in wet paper towels and tinfoil. She was really happy to see us and loved the flowers. She just kept smelling them :)

I also remember my Grandma as being the best gift-giver EVER. She was a QVC shopper so we got the cool presents that no one carried in stores. She always bought so many toys!! She would come over with boxes full of wrapped presents for us. She always bought me awesome arts and crafts stuff. One of my favorites was a machine that would spin really fast and you squirt paint into it and it would make all these cool paint splatter designs. She also got me a pottery wheel and this weaving kit and all kinds of other fun creative stuff. We also really did it up on the 4th of July. Again she and Paul (her other son) would show up with boxes of fireworks, and they were the good ones! We had fireworks going off for hours on end. The fun seemed to never stop. I love my Grandma.

She was already pretty old when we were born so we didn't get too much time with her. She slowly wasn't able to make it for holidays anymore. She always brought Cope's dried sweet corn, which used to be available only in PA where she raised my Dad. We call it Grandma's Corn. I just made Grandma's Corn for Easter... I've still got some in the fridge. It was important for us to have it every holiday so we worked hard to perfect the recipe when she wasn't able to come anymore. Still, it will never taste exactly like hers and I suppose that's how it should be. I've never met another person outside of my family who's ever heard of it, but they all love it once they try it!

She didn't want to live with us and actually wanted to go to a nursing home. My dad visits her twice a week to chat and make sure she's well taken care of. He also is sure to visit on holidays too, including her birthday. She was going to be 88 in October. My Dad is, of course, really upset and I wish I could be there already to give him a hug and cry with him. I'm glad we have such a big family because I know there are people there with him even though I can't be. I hope her pain stops soon. I hope everyone there gets to say everything they wanted to. I'll miss her.