December 10th

Today is my grandmother's birthday. She has been gone for 10 years. Wow...I can't believe it's been that long. Every December 10th, my aunt sends us an email to remind us of the significance of this day and to encourage us to celebrate it in some small way. We often joke that it should be a national holiday. That may be a bit extreme, but to those of us who knew and loved her, it seems fitting. I'm so thankful for the 17 years that I had with her, although I have found myself missing her a lot lately and wishing that I was able to know her as an adult. My relationships with my family have changed a lot over the last few years as I have grown and joined the "real world". For the most part I enjoy and embrace this change, and feel that I would have enjoyed that change in my relationship with my grandma. I'm sure she would have had great advice and sometimes I sit around wanting to know what nuggets of wisdom she would offer about situations in my life. Man, do I miss her. I miss her porcelain white skin and how soft her cheek felt when we gave her "sugar" as she called it. She never missed an opportunity to tell us she loved us and how proud she was of her grandchildren. Her laugh was infectious and her smile lit up a room. As I think back about her, I believe she had "a way with people". I don't think I have ever heard anyone say a bad thing about her. She was kind and gentle and genuinely loved people as well as her God. Don't get me wrong, she could stand up for herself and her family with the best of them and if you were doing something you were not suppose to do...she would make it known very quickly. She was the best playmate too. My siblings, cousins and I would play in her basement for hours and often times she would join us. We would play school and she would be the teacher, or we would play hotel and she would be the boss. We even played wedding and she was the minister! Many of my fondest memories of childhood include my grandmother and her contagious joy. I hope that as I grow and mature, I embody many of the wonderful attributes she portrayed throughout her life.