Wednesday, November 27, 2024
'Best friend' comes to my mind most when I think about my grandmother. I suppose because she was every sense of the word for me throughout each chapter of my life.
When I was really young, she would enter me into beauty pageants. I would actually win some, and the ones I didn't were always fixed, and the judges were always wrong.
We would make maple taffy in the snow on her deck in the winter. I would crawl into her bed in the morning after a sleepover, and we would sing so loud we would wake up my grandfather. I learned the phrase 'pack rat' from her, and I've definitely turned into one now (proudly).
We would sit in her backyard on summer nights and tell ghost stories, and one day, my grandparents drove me to Saint Stephen just to see a house there that was supposedly haunted.
We had many Saturday mornings at the market, getting donairs and eating them in the car while people waited for our parking spot.
There was one weekend my grandfather was away, so she painted the front door, just long enough to take mine & my sisters photo with it, and then she painted it back so he wouldn't know.
She brought me to my first concerts, Michelle Wright, John Berry, and Martina Mcbride. Michelle came into the audience and held my hand, and we thought that was amazing. When we would drive, she would tap her foot to the music on the radio. It was the foot on the pedal sometimes.
She loved Halloween and dressing up to hand out candy, her yard always decorated for the occasion. Nothing compared to Christmas Eve, though. Christmas Eve at Nanny & Grampys with the whole family. Chinese food and a Yankee swap. I'm so thankful for those Christmas Eve's.
My Nan had stories to tell, so many stories. I could listen to them for hours, and I did. Her days of growing up on her grandparents' farm with her sister. My favorite stories to hear. I could tell hours of stories about her and I and our adventures together. Someday, I just might. But until then, this was a start.
I wish everyone in this world could experience having a grandmother like mine. A part of my soul was created and nurtured by her alone, and she leaves a legacy behind that is beyond definition and words. The warmest spring days and brightest stars will always be her, saying hello, I'm still around.
It's been an honor being your granddaughter. I love you always. Until we meet again.
