My Grandmother

My grandmother passed away today. I don't think that it has fully hit me yet. My grandmother, "Mammo", has always been such a large part of my life. Up until I was sixteen or seventeen, I spent every summer with my grandparents from the time school let out until just a few days before it started back up. She was an amazing woman. I am posting an excerpt of something I have prepared to read at her funeral.



My grief is terrible for losing her. My grief is for losing a grandmother who loved me as if I were her own son. A grandmother who inspired me by doing nothing more than living an honest life. A grandmother that looked beyond my faults, countless though they may be, and focused instead on what I meant to her. This, in no small part, is why she meant so much to me.

But this grief will last but a little while. However, the love that I have for her will never pass. And this is why I cry. Not to mourn her loss but to celebrate her life. A life filled with both sorrows and joys. That she suffered sorrow and hardship in her life is without question; that she did so uncomplainingly is amazing. I never once saw my grandmother complain about a hardship. She always found the silver lining to the darkest cloud; most often that silver lining was her family. My grandmother loved her family, every son and daughter, every grandchild and great-grandchild. Every time I spoke with her over the phone, she always asked about my children. And her eyes danced merrily every time she saw them. And it was the same with everyone in her family. Indeed, it cannot think of a time that any family member who darkened her doorway was not greeted with a hug. My grandmother was also generous and giving. Without exception, everyone who came into her home, family member or total stranger, was greeted with the phrase, “Make yourself at home.”

Tears are an expression of sadness. They are also an expression of joy. And so, the tears I shed are not tears of sadness, at least not primarily so. Instead they are tears of joy: joy at having known and been loved by one of the most remarkable persons I will have ever known. My life has been made more rich and full for having her in it. Yes, I will miss my “Mammo”. But I will also cherish her memory and the love that she gave to me.