My Gramma

My sweet and wonderful gramma passed away on July 1. She was 83, but even now, I felt like she would always be around.

For most of my childhood, I looked forward to visiting her every summer at her home in California. Not only did I get to go on the plane (sometimes we drove), but it was to another state. This was a big deal. She would pick my mom and I up from the airport in her Cadillac and drive us back to Downey where she lived. She always had a list of things planned for us to do during our visit. If we weren't going somewhere, her friends were always dropping by to say hello and we could always take a swim in her pool.

I still remember parts of her house there. The room I usually slept in had a giant buffalo head on the wall that scared me to death. Somehow I managed to fall asleep in there anyway. Cuckoo clocks in every room. The toy chest full of old random toys. The Wizard of Oz plates hanging on the wall.

I saw so many places with her. Of course there were the trips to Disneyland, but she also took me to Castle Park, Knott's Berry Farm, Long Beach, Seal Beach, musical dinner theatres, children museums, Dodger games, San Juan Capistrano to see the swallows, and many more things that I'm sure I'm forgetting.

One year we traded our white Christmas for a balmy green one and drove down to California to spend it with Gramma. We were there for Easter once too. Somehow I ended up with five Easter baskets that year. (Still trying to figure that out...)

When I was 14, she moved up here to Utah and lived only 5 minutes away from our house. To me, that was awesome! Instead of a flight away, it was just around the corner. Now I got to spend even more time with her. I learned a great deal just by being around her. I watched her make fresh jam and homemade bread. I learned secrets about family favorite recipes. We giggled together over Keeping Up Appearances.

Before I learned to drive, she would pick me up from school in the afternoons since I lived outside of the district busing zones. I used to think she drove slow (like a grandma, lol), but now I realize that was her way of spending time with me.

When I went to Logan for college, I didn't get to see her as much. But truthfully, she was the reason I was able to go to school in the first place. She helped fund my education from the time I struggled with my math tutoring in middle school, all the way to my graduation from USU. My part time jobs would have never covered all that. That's not to say that it wasn't an easy ride. I had many academic struggles along the way. I was so grateful for her support.

I am grateful she got to know my children, though they didn't know her as I did. She suffered her first stroke 3 weeks before Nathan was born and wasn't able to visit everyone as she once did.

I am also very grateful for the last day I spent with her. We spent a lot of time talking (in between her frequent naps) about how I make her jam now and all I needed to learn now was her awesome salsa recipe. She tried right then and there to give it to me verbally, but I had to stop her because it wouldn't have been possible for her to do so.

Don't worry, Gramma. I'll get your salsa recipe and I hope to make it right.