When Grandma was sick and looking really bad, I kept reverting to a favorite, lasting memory and mental image: lying on her bed, surrounded by sister and brothers listening to her read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Magical. There's a similar picture in her 25th wedding anniversary collage, on Christmas, surrounded by her children, in pajamas, happy, fresh and eagerly anticipating the day ahead, too young to think of the years ahead.
There was the 50th anniversary quilt, above her bed; and her wedding picture on her dresser, along with a photo of Miles all of which we studied and analyzed and sent us off on mental tours as we sat with Grandma in her final hours, remembering happier times.
Once when she was asked what she did during her life, she said she raised five children. She did much more - vestry, volunteer, entrepreneur, activist, alumna - but that was all she said. This summer, at our get-together, she said more than once, "I can't believe they are all mine, that I am the matriarch of such a grand clan."
Right now, as I write, I am looking at a photo of that clan, at Mountain Springs. It's funny how it's all the mothers, including Grandma, that have the biggest smiles. What do they know that the guys, and the kids don't?
We wanted to wait for a memorial service so that as many of the grandchildren as possible could be there, to have enough advance planning. It will mean so much to her that we can all be together again.
We all have our special memories, and mental images. I hope you will write and share yours.
Love
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