My dearest Granny,
How I will miss you.
How I will miss this new woman-to-woman friendship that we worked on
over this last year though letters. How
I will miss your insistence on beauty.
Beauty of the body, beauty of the surroundings, beauty of the soul. Who else will remind me to dye my hair for my
husband, or to wear a little makeup to cover up the blemishes? Who else will celebrate my newfound Frenchy
love for skirts and scarves, or laugh at my efforts to speak Spancaise? Who else will I turn to for an example of
strength?
For you were strong to the end. Your body may have belied your strength, but
your innate ability to make the best of a new situation, to ask yourself to
find the positives, that never left you.
How many homes did you live in, how many countries? How many times did you need to acclimate to a
new language, a new culture, new friends?
It takes a very strong person to do that. And my sense is that everywhere you went
people were taken in by your charms. By
your attention to the details, by your love of laughter and adventure.
As one who was taken in by your charms from pretty much the
day I was born, I can honestly say that you amaze me. For someone for whom chatting amiably took up
a large portion of her time to lose her voice in the last years of her life,
that takes strength to persevere. For
someone for whom a life of travel and activity took up so much of her time to
lose her freedom of movement, that too
takes strength to endure. For someone
for whom the catholic church was such a source of support to lose her ability to attend mass with her
community, that, too, takes strength to carry on.
Granny, I love you, I honor you, I respect you. And most of all I am glad that you have
finally laid down your strength. There
are times to carry on and, sadly for those of us left behind, times to lay down
one’s burden and move into the next stage.
For I picture you now, once again,
with Coco. And with your parents and brother
and sister. And with all of those whom
you have loved over the ninety beautiful years of your life. And for that, although I feel your loss
immensely, still I am grateful.
Blessings and thanks to you for everything you have given me. My Granny.
Love,
Lara
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