Grandma Is

One of the many roles Pauline Eccles served, and the way I am lucky enough to know her, was that of Grandma. And she did it right.  After she died, all of us grandkids thought about what Grandma means to us; some of these are singular to one; others we all share. But this is who Grandma is to us…..

Grandma is roadtrips for all occasions in a little Honda.

Grandma is mints in the dining room.

Grandma is the bay, boogie boards and alligator float, and faithful straw hat and chair.

She is meaningful gifts, her familiar scrawl explaining the stories.

She is croquet.

Grandma is sitting on the patio.

She is cable tv, Nick at Nite, and Jordan commandeering the remote for the History Channel.

Grandma is the smell of magnolias.

She is the color blue.

She is scrabble, Yahtzee, and Chutes and Ladders.

Grandma is the Kentucky Derby.

Grandma is classical music and musicals.

Grandma is damint, “Open the door damnit!”

She is ice cream cones for any occasion, or for none at all.

She is the garage, never the front door.

Grandma is letters, her slanted handwriting on an envelope.

She is soda in rows and the brown bag to recycle them.

She is stories of Grandad and our family history.

She is a growing collection of pictures on the wall,  welcomed into the family.

Grandma is poker, and cards with her women.

Grandma is bird watching in the backyard and from the kitchen window.

Grandma is “cu-cumbers, good ma-rning, karn”

Grandma is feeding the ducks and the playground.

She is egg muffins, she is ham, doritos, watermelon and spam.

Grandma is the dirt pile and army men.

Grandma is the typewriter, the train set, coins, the rock collection.

Grandma is trips to McDonalds.

Grandma is volunteering.

She is thrift stores.

Grandma is her den, and black furniture, red afgans and a shoe collection underneath.

Grandma is zinnia races with Emm.

Grandma is strength, she is resilience, she is laughter, and she is real. Grandma is faith and goodness.

Grandma is simply “Grandma.” She is all of us, and she’s in all of us. The stories, the memories, the new little ones, and the love we have for each other.

JM Barrie said that God gave us memories so that we may have roses in December.  Grandma gave us a whole garden, and amongst those blooms, both old and new, we will always find her.