I know I promised you all photos today, but I received a terribly sad phone call from my mom early this afternoon telling me that my paternal grandmother had just passed away. Due to dementia and failing health, she has been living in a nursing home for the last several years but she was doing okay when we left for the cruise. My parents arrived home yesterday to an urgent message from my aunt telling them to call as soon as possible. My grandma apparently fell ill with pneumonia last week and has been on life support ever since. Thankfully, my dad was able to get to the hospital in time to see her and say his goodbyes before she passed away.
I am very lucky that I got to know and have my grandma as long as I did and I will always carry fond memories of her with me. She cooked the most delicious Spanish chicken and rice I've ever tasted and made the yummiest and fluffiest ambrosia for all of the holidays. She was a very talented crocheter and seamstress and I still have many beautiful blankets and stuffed animals that she made for me as a child. I like to think that I inherited my gift of a steady stitch from her. My grandma also happened to be a twin and it has always been the long-running family joke that one of us grandkids will inherit that gene and have twins of their own. Seeing as how I'm the littlest of my cousins, you can bet it will probably be me.
As with any person who has suffered a long and drawn out illness, their death brings mixed emotions. There is the obvious grief that comes with the passing of any loved one, but there is also relief that they won't be suffering any longer. There's also the sudden realization of your own parent's mortality. You're a witness to the grief of a child, your parent, losing their parent, your grandparent. You can't help but think that that will be you going through that unimaginable loss some day. And that thought? Is very frightening.
That is why I'm choosing simply to focus on the happy memories I have of my grandma and the consoling comfort that she is not in pain any more. My grandma lived a long life, married a good man and had four beautiful children. It is my hope that she has already been reunited with my grandpa and my aunt (who died as a child) in Heaven and that she is at peace.
