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GentlewoodFarms
February 21, 2013

My Grandmother

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The Book of Me Challenge this month was to scrap the person who has most influenced your life?

This is my dad's mom - who was my favorite grandparent, and quite possibly my favorite person EVER. She was the kindest and most loving person I've ever met. I never heard her say a bad word about anyone, never heard her say anything negative about any situation, her words were always wise and full of encouragement and instruction for life. Wherever she was, there was peace.

She taught me how to think before I speak and to decide on my words based on five questions.

For years I had a poster in my classroom that shared her philosophy. Before You Speak - THINK. Is it True? Is it Helpful? Is it Important? Is it Necessary? Is it Kind? If you can't answer all five with "yes," it probably doesn't need to be said at all.

My biggest regret is that during her last week of life, she drove down with my Grandfather to visit my parents at their house. I was away at college, but I was going to be home that evening, except I didn't really get in a big rush to get there. I was 20-something at the time, and I had really no idea at the time the measure of her influence on me.

She waited as long as she could, but she was so tired and by that time just running out of steam. She told my mother to tell me she loved me and that she was sorry couldn't wait and that she would have loved to have seen me. I think she must have known, maybe. The next time I saw her was three days later, after she had passed away. I have always regretted the things that I made more important that night than going home to see her. I don't even remember now what they were.

I made a lot of mistakes and made a lot of stupid decisions when I was younger, but I always knew that no matter how badly I messed up, Grandmother was steadfast in her love for me. I know I am a better person because she was my grandmother, but today, I wish I could have just FIVE MINUTES to talk to her. There are so MANY things that I wish I could ask her, now that I'm an adult and know how important she was to me. Mostly, I wish I could tell her that I'm sorry I took for granted just how MUCH she loved me.

There is not a day that goes by that I do not miss her, and there is not a day that goes by that I am not thankful for her influence in my life. I hope she's proud of the way I've turned out.

The photo is one that I took when I was in the 5th grade with my little Kodak camera. I wasn't a good photographer, obviously, because I chopped off the top of her head. But this picture is exactly what my Grandmother looked like. She had this way of tipping her head and tucking her chin as she smiled, and I caught that, right here, in this photograph. It's the way I remember her.

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I used Week 3 Let's Get Sketchy sketch.
http://letsgetsketchy.blogspot.com/2013/02/february-week-3-challenge.html

Also for the 5 ingredients Challenge - Black, Banner, Hearts, Punch, and Metal
And for the 4 Categories Challenge - Black and White + 1

Thanks for stopping by and sharing my memories! And if you are lucky enough to have grandparents still living, call them and tell them you love them. Do it today!


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