Monday, January 28, 2013

my Gram.

my grandmother, 1967

She was brilliant, and beautiful. She was brave. She played the piano like a dream and she once got dragged home by her father when he caught her dancing at a party. She left her tiny hometown and went to college, and then on to get a master's degree at a time when many women didn't do either. She brought friends home who were the first non-whites most of her small-town neighbors had ever seen. She met a colorful, kindhearted, temperamental sailor from Buffalo and skipped her commencement to marry him. She worked alongside him and then, after having three beautiful children, stood by him while he worked for social justice, first in Tennessee and then in Chicago, where they proudly stayed put during white flight and racial turmoil and the turbulence of life on the South Side. She was an avid gardener, a stickler for the truth, a passionate volunteer, a loyal friend. She could be rigid and proud, and she could be generous and forgiving. She taught me how to get all of the sweet nectar out of a honeysuckle, wrote me wonderful letters, saved me her Reader's Digests, and made the best cookies. She would have been 89 in a month. She was my grandmother, and I'm so grateful to have known her these 32 years.

To my Gram: xoxo.

10 comments:

  1. What a beautiful and amazing role model. So glad she helped shape who you are!

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  2. She sounds amazing. I can see how her values rubbed off on you and how her legacy continues. I am sorry that I never had the chance to meet her, and I am certainly sorry for your loss.

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    1. Thanks, Melissa and Ann! You both would have loved her - she was quite the sassy lady.

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  3. Lovely words to honor a person who sounds as if she lived true to herself. How wonderful to have such memories of her! And how wonderful for you to have the opportunity to share these values and life stories with your daughter! Your Grandmother has truly blessed you with what sounds like the capability to love unconditionally and have the pride of family. I am sorry for your loss, but know too that you celebrate her life.

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    1. Thanks so much for your kind words! I am definitely trying to focus on the celebrating part - since remembering her fondly is the most important.

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  4. What an amazing woman and such a sweet tribute. I'm thinking of you.

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  5. Grandmothers are such special people, and yours sounds extraordinary. What an inspiration she must be to you, and to so many others. Sending you a big hug as you celebrate her life.

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  6. She sounds like a rad lady! I would have loved to meet her :)

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  7. I'm so sorry about your Gram. She sounds like she was an incredible woman.

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  8. So sorry about your grandma. She seems like an amazing person to have had in your life!

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