My dad's Mother passed away last week. She had lived a long life and just recently had her 90th Birthday. I had some pictures from our last visit to Florida I thought I would share. They are from Christmas 2009.
I felt so lucky that Holly had an opportunity to meet her Great Grandmother and spend time with her. During our Visit we went to Lowery Park Zoo one evening, Bertha and Kat even rode the Sky Ride together. It was a Beautiful night.
On another day she joined us for a visit to MOSI. Bertha was full of life and always ready for an adventure. She learned how to play the Wii during our visit and enjoyed a game of bowling.
Mostly though I think she liked to watch Holly with all of her energy jumping and running from one activity to another. During Christmas we had our traditional family celebration on Christmas eve and exchanged a few gifts. It was lovely that she joined us in our celebration.
Kat helped her with her slanket, one of the gifts she opened, a blanket with sleeves, as she was always chilly. Holly enjoyed sitting in her lap and together they watched Yo Gabba Gabba. I think Bertha even liked the singing and songs.
Thinking back to my childhood I was remembering a few time we went to visit her. I recall that her house was across the street from a cemetery (in my memory at least).
It was one of those brownstone types in New York where they are built so close together you can touch your neighbor's from your front porch. I remember it was at least three stories thin, we had to walk up front steps to get into the kitchen.
There was a fancy living room, I remembered that there was plastic on the couches to protect them. We sat at the table in the Kitchen and she had snacks and cookies for us.
I remember visiting a few times, and always wondered what the rest of the house was like. I recall once my parent;s leaving us there for a few hours, and she let us go into the basement. I don't remember much other then she said that's where my dad used to hang out.
I'm not even sure how old we were at the time, and if we visited both when we lived in NY or before and after we lived in Colorado.
I remember that she moved to Florida, and we did too, though we were not close by. When I was in High School she remarried and I remember going to her wedding.
It was a beautiful day and she seemed so happy, young, light, more so then my memories of her in New York. Happier. And why not, she was traveling and enjoying life and she deserved it.
I remember during our last visit to Florida she told me stories of her girlhood when she had lived in San Francisco and worked for the War Effort Building Ships. That woman seemed so different from the grandmother I knew, or the woman she had become.
It is a sad thing to grow old I think, but she had a full life and I felt like she was happy with her life, content, proud of her Children, and her family.
She loved her Grandchildren and I felt she knew she was blessed to have so many Great Grandchildren. In the final years it was fun to get to know this Bertha, the adult, different then the grandmother I had know as a teenager.
She had this corny sense of humor, the same as my dad's so there is no question as to where he gets it from. I saw a lot of him in her, and even some of my sister.
When you are living life day to day you tend not to notice the little things the subtle changes, but when you reflect on the years gone by you see the chapter's of your story. I think she felt she had lived her story well, and she was ready to go, she was peaceful and content.
It is sad that she is gone, but I think rather then grieve her passing she would want us to celebrate her life, she is up there dancing now and looking down with a smile. Love to you Daddy and to Marilyn, and to all of us grand kids, and to the next generation beyond.
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