It’s been a month. The Bean made her First Communion. Scorch turned 10. Last weekend the Bean and I went away with her Girl Scout troop. We camped in NJ and spent a day in NYC. It was a long, fantastic, exhausting weekend and I’m so very, very thankful I had that time with the Bean. And then, when I got home that day, I got a phone call telling me my Grandmother passed away.

My Grandmother was a central figure in my younger life. As a kid, I spent as many weekends as I could up there. She had dogs and cats and horses and acres and acres of land that we’d explore on foot and on horseback. She introduced me to wheat bread and water with lemon which sounds odd, but at the time was Big Deal. I had birthday parties at her house on the bank of her pond and I still remember how at home I felt in her home.

I’ll never forget the day she explained the birds and the bees to me. We were mucking out her horse’s stall and she, being a nurse, explained the mechanics of sex to me in very frank, clear cut terms. I remember wanting to puke and telling her I was NEVER letting a boy do that to me. Ever. She laughed.

She opened up a shop on her property where she- a fabulous artist- sold her paintings, ceramics and other gifts. I worked there a lot of weekends when I was in elementary into middle school. She taught me how to tie bows, run a register and write invoices. She held painting classes throughout the year and would host a special one in Nov for myself and my cousins to make gifts for our parents.

My childhood was a very happy one for a lot of reasons- one of them being the relationship I had with my Grandmother.

So, Grandma- thank you for your love, support and encouragement. You’ll be greatly missed, but we’re all so very glad you’re safe and at peace now.

Grandma with Baby Bean in 2008