My Grandma Sally passed away peacefully on her 94th birthday this past Monday.
We were expecting it. Around ten years ago she began showing signs of dementia. By the end she barely knew who we were. On our second to last visit, after three days packed with card playing and dominoes, she emerged from a room and saw me. “Hi Jennifer,” she said. I was so honored to be remembered.
As I am honored to remember her. I wrote about a visit to see her three or so years ago when I realized how much of me I had to thank her for. Read on…
A strange sense of obligation brought me here.
My ninety year old grandmother.
I realize today, she has given me much more than my love for swimming and a method for slicing bananas.
It is from her that I inherit my tireless scheming, my devotion to people and my propensity for get rich quick schemes.
I just now realized it.
She once invented a game called “Odds and Evens”. It teaches kids in a visual way about math. It’s great. I played it all the time as a little girl.
When my mother and her sisters cleaned out her garage a few years ago, they found three boxes filled with Odds and Evens. Grandma had produced a ton of them to try and sell them to other local schools.
Can’t you completely see me doing that?!!
Another box was filled with unsold copies of her cookbook, Cooking Under Pressure. It was not about cooking when stressed, rather it detailed recipes utilizing the pressure cooker.
I don’t have a pressure cooker, but I do have plans for…
and also…
not to forget…
and you know what?
If my grandmother accomplished three daughters and two get rich quick schemes,
and if that’s roughly what I get around to…
That’s okay with me.
