My grandma-- or if you would have asked me when I was 5-- My favorite Grandma, passed away on May 20. This also happens to be my birthday.
Sunday she was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia and sepsis, and given a few days to live. Though this has happened many, many times before, I somehow knew that this would be the last time, the last "death drill" as my aunt called it.
Sometimes we used to tease that Grandma would pretend to be dying so everyone would visit her. I honestly don't doubt that it could have happened once or twice. Heart surgeries, emergency "we don't know what we are going to find but we don't know what else to do" surgeries, putting in pace makers, shutting off pace makers. Urinary tract infections that mimic the angel of death pulling you into the great beyond. She survived multiple heart attacks, strokes, congestive heart failure, having her colon removed, gangrene, diabetes, countless surgeries, the passing of her husband, and so much more.
Even before she got sick she was a fighter and survived so much. She lost her little sister, her parents, and eventually old age began to take the rest of her siblings along too. She survived being a poor Italian girl in the south during the great depression. She survived riding warp speed on a scooter, flipping over and flying several feet through the air. She survived being told by my grandpa that he had absolutely no interest in her and that he was most assuredly going to marry a different girl from their church. She survived waiting until he came to his senses.
When you live 87 years you survive a lot of things, some seem less impressive than others, but being young and surviving what I have survived thus far, I think I am more impressed by these little things. Little things that didn't turn her bitter or make her prone to giving up, little things that molded her into the awesome woman I knew.
Looking through the photos, there were so so many absolutely silly ones. Several of my grandma in various ridiculous costumes made me realize how much I am like her. Growing up doesn't mean losing your sense of humor, and seeming a little crazy just to entertain the people you love is 100% worth it.
I hope I never lose my appreciation for growing another year older, because life is precious. And I hope, like my grandma, I never lose my sense of fun. I will miss her so much, but my "real" grandma had been chipping away the last several years from dementia. I am so happy to think that she is whole, with her family, safe and healthy now. She is probably putting on some ridiculous show upstairs for my grandpa and all their siblings.
Rest in the sweetest peace, I will miss you.
