Grandma Mary Lue
For years I have stared at pictures of them and wondered what their laugh was like. Or their hugs. When I was eleven I would go through Grandma Kay's dresser full of her belongings, I used to try to figure out her her favorite clothes or look at her sewing projects that she had been finishing and wondered if they were for me. I wondered what the large inserts for her bra (post surgery) were for and if she hated wearing them.
Grandma Kay
I was three years old when they passed away within a very short time of each other, both in their fifties. It is now, after all these years, that I realize the magnitude of what that must have been like for my parents who were in their twenties when they lost both of their mothers. With Grandma Mary Lue it was sudden and too soon. With Grandma Kay it was the long, drawn out pain and the rocking chair she would sit in to move back and forth, back and forth, while hugging her chest because it hurt so terribly from the cancer.
Yet somehow I do know them. They are a part of my life everyday. I have felt their love and support and yes, definite laughs as they watch this granddaughter muddle through. Grandma Kay had 4 boys in a row. She knows. Sometimes that is just enough to get me through that moment. With Grandma Mary Lue, I have been told I have her personality. I can't wait to be around her because I wonder what it would be like to be around your mother's mom. What is it like? I have always thought there must be something special about that. A maternal grandmother's love.
I think if they were here right now the message would be simple...
Live today to the fullest. Love all those around you as if today were your last.
Love you, too, grandmas.
