The Loss of a Grandma

My grandma passed away on New Years Eve. She was 86 years old, and to be honest, her quality of life towards the end was not that great, so in many ways it is a blessing that she is now with the Lord.

with my Grandma 4 years ago at my Bridal shower

This woman was one of the biggest influencers in my life. She is the only grandparent I ever knew, and she was an amazing grandma in many ways. I have so many memories of times with her when I was young, and she really purposed to make it that way.

When I was about 3 years old, she lived in Texas. She called my mom one day and asked to say hi to me. When my mom said "Amy, come talk to your Grandma", my response was "What's a grandma?". My grandma heard that response on her end of the phone, packed her bags, and moved back to the Chicago area that week.

She taught me so many things: how to properly set a table, how to properly make a bed (flat sheet face-down FYI), the importance of drinking lots of water (she would stop and drink an entire large glass of it every time she passed the kitchen sink), how height isn't something to be ashamed of (she was 5'7", which was pretty tall for her generation), and how to always put others first.

At my Wedding in 2011

Her faith was incredible. She spent hours every day in prayer, and I know many of those hours were spent praying for me. You could tell that she considered God a friend. She was never ashamed of her faith in any way.

I am not much of a touchy feely sort of person, but my Grandma taught me the importance of touch and hugs. I spoil my baby girl with those things all day because of her. My Grandma was raised in a time when parents didn't hug their children a lot, and she often told the story about the day when she hurt herself on the playground as a child. She was crying and the teacher who was on playground duty put my grandma on her lap, wrapped her arms around her and hugged her tight. My grandma would tell that story and her voice would shake, because she said it was the most wonderful feeling she had ever felt in her life. She said from that day on she promised herself she was going to give as many people that same feeling as possible.

And she did.

She was amazing. And I miss her already so very much. I missed much of the end of her life because I was at the end of my pregnancy or a few states away with a newborn. But I did get to see her at Christmas. And although much of her was gone already, I did get to hold her hand again, and see her eyes shine with love for me. She got to see Victoria and marvel at the fact that her blue eyes skipped two generations to be inherited by my baby (neither my husband nor I have blue eyes, nor any of our parents).

She'll always be an inspiration to me. And she is already dearly missed.