My mother-in-law, Grammie, will turn 105 this year and is the beloved cornerstone of her blossoming family of three children, two sons-in-laws, one daughter-in-law, eight grandchildren –six who are married, and fifteen great grandchildren. They all consider Grammie to be the Grand in their Canyon, the Fortune in their Cookie, the High in their Noon, the matriarch who provides them with a wealth of love and generosity no money could buy.
I did not grow up with that kind of care but it sure seems to me that having a woman like that in your life is a great thing.
I’ve known her to be a woman with a heart as big as tomorrow who always placed the welfare of everybody else above her own. Actually, come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve even heard her complain, her eternal optimism a thing to marvel at. Is anybody like that anymore?
I don’t believe it ever occurred to her not to bake cookies for every single neighbor or host gatherings when no one else wanted to or be the first one to volunteer for a community event or support her favorite charities or send birthday and Christmas and Valentine’s Day and Spring and Thanksgiving and Anniversary cards and gifts to every single one of her progeny. Does anybody do that anymore?
Yesterday, my husband did a zoom call with her. Their conversation was limited due to her failed hearing and the inevitable decline in memory, but my heart did that little zing thing when I interrupted their call with a quick wave, “Hey there, how are things?”
Her eyes lit up. “Sharon, is that you honey?”
Honey –my husband doesn’t even call me that anymore. “Yep, it’s me,” as a warmth spread across my chest.
We chuckled and talked about nothing special: what she ate for lunch; repeating her recent visit with her daughter; and then I said goodbye, finding a little bit of solace in watching her endearing smile.
When she dies, it will be both a sad and a heartening time, because we will miss that Rock in our Roll but we’ll also rejoice in having known greatness.
How did you find solace this week?
Sharon
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