A Special Life

It's been a rather sad week for me and my family. Last Friday, my Grandma Ann passed away. She was diagnosed with cancer in March, but her passing was still very unexpected. What I mean is, we didn't expect when she went into the hospital Thursday night, that we needed to say good-bye forever before we left. This has been the hardest part. She had just finished her 7th round of chemotherapy. She had handled all the meds and chemo as good as expected, although which each round you could see a little piece of her dwindle away. They took all her energy and made her feel lousy for a few days and then she would bounce back. We don't feel it was the cancer that took her, but rather some blood clots she had been developing off and on.

Saying good-bye to her has been very hard. She was very special and one of the most influential women in my life. Growing up, I knew of no one else who had a grandma that was as involved as mine was. She was with us every weekend. We would shop till we dropped every Saturday, after we cleaned the house of course. My grandma was the strongest woman I know and endured a lot of heartache in her life, though you would never have known it. She was a friend to everyone, never would say anything bad about anyone and was always able to see the good in everything. She was so proud of her Italian heritage and so were we. I'm going to miss her cooking, the special way she did laundry and ironed (yes, there is a process!). Everything she did came out so much better because she actually took her time and it drove her crazy when I would rush through things. I'll miss the way she hummed while doing everything and most of all I'll miss all the time we spent together. My most favorite thing to do with her was to spend a Saturday afternoon shopping and having lunch. I have SO many wonderful memories of her.

My last memory of her is the most special though. The Tuesday before she passed, she spent the entire day at my house, holding Tater and helping me get caught up on laundry and housework, her specialty. She held Tater so much that day that she was sore she told my sister! I hope I can pass on the special things she did for me to him and tell him all about how special she was. I made a video for her funeral. Everyone loved it, but my true intention of the video was to show the legacy of my grandma's life so that Tater and my youngest nephew can see how much she meant to us. It turned out so awesome and will be a great message to them some day.

I am so comforted knowing that we all have another angel to watch over us. I can only imagine the stories her and my other grandmother are sharing right now. My other grandma passed away two years ago. Both grandmas were best friends. Not because their children were married, but because they truly enjoyed each other's company. This was awesome growing up, because they were both always there. So if your saying a prayer, please add my family today. Time is the best medicine for healing.