Remembering

  
It has been a while since I wrote. The past year has been a whirlwind that has revolved around taking care of my precious grandmother. I will not lie by telling you it was easy, but I would not trade the past year for anything.  As I sit in her house this morning drinking coffe while trying to find the strength to finish the second of six closets of clothes to go through, I just remember her. I remember the times she drove me crazy for sure, but what stands out is all the times she taught me lessons with her actions.

Strength: On our trip to Europe when I was fifteen, she broke her ankle in Zermatt, Switzerland. So here I am fifteen and she is trusting me to handle everything while she is in the hospital for seven days recovering from emergency surgery. I have to handle checking out of the hotel, getting out luggage down the mountain, paying hospital bills, and updating our family back home all while in a German speaking area.  (Let’s just say my German is nonexistent) She had faith that this scared fifteen year old could handle it and more.  I still remember this trip anytime I am feeling overwhelmed. 

Hard Work: My grandmother was a Nurse Anethetist, whose main job involved working twenty four hour shifts in labor and delivery around three days a week. If that was not taxing enough, she often spent her off days moonlighting at small rural hospitals as needed. All this while starting a weekly newspaper in my small hometown. She never stopped moving. She worked hard and taught me that there was never a time to be lazy.

Adventure: While my grandmother worked hard, she also played hard. She only retired from her main job after they turned down her vacation request (she had worked there over forty years). She was always up for a trip whether it was a backpacking trip through Europe with your eight year old granddaughter or a week long trip up the east coast to tour colleges with her sixteen year old granddaughter. She is the main reason I value traveling so much and have a goal to experience new things. 

Many other key attributes in my life came from her such as there is never such thing as too much food on the table, the value of ones friends, and the importance of pets (especially rescued pets). So as I spend this quiet Labor Day morning sitting overlooking the family lake, I try to remember that she lives on through me.