She was honestly the best Grandmother I could have ever asked for- I'll always remember the many days we'd spend "poking around" the mall; browsing for hours and hours was something we both loved to do. If it was rainy, we would "veg out" on the couch, always with a bowl of ice cream, a movie and usually a game of InterSect 90 somewhere in between. I used to win all the time at that game and I sometimes wondered if my Grama was going easy on me :)
She was a nun, a teacher, a principal, a National Arts Centre pianist, a step-mother, a grandmother and above all, a fighter. My family used to joke that my Grama would be canonized (made into a Saint) after she passed because of all the years she had to "put up" with my crazy, eccentric Grampa!
I still don't know why my Grama decided to quit the convent, but our family always laughed about the time she once (as a nun) threw one of her students beds out the window because it wasn't made properly!
One thing my Grama did, which I could never thank her enough for, is she would write little books for my monumental Birthdays. She would write about our family, about my life, about the life of their beloved dog Babes after she had to be put down and so on. She would write her own experiences and thoughts about first becoming a Grandmother and how it changed her from the person she used to be into the person I knew her as. Whenever I go back to Ottawa and have an opportunity to visit my Grama's gravesite, I always bring one of her little books and read it to her; I know she's listening.
When my Grama was diagnosed with mouth and tongue cancer, the Doctors gave her 2 months to live. It was a really scary time for us and my family watched my Grama transform from a festivally-plump woman to a frail bone-thin skeleton. Although her outer appearance changed so drastically, my Grama's amazing self always shone through. She fought, and fought, and fought and managed to live an amazing 11 years longer than the Doctors had expected her to.
For the last 10 years of her life, my Grama was fed through a tube in her stomach and it would make me so sad to hear how all she wanted was to be able to eat a Harvey's HotDog again.
My Grama was a fighter, she was amazing, IS amazing! She gave me a small heart-shaped pillow one year on my Birthday and it's become one of my most cherished possesions.
On the pillow it says: "Always be true to the hopes and dreams you hold deepest in your heart"; that short little message has helped me get through some rough times.
Thanks for everything you did and are still doing Grama, I love you so much. Rest In Peace & I'll be watching for the Rainbow in the skies on October 13th.
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