Precious Grandma

That was the name for my Grandma that my cousins Billy and Aly gave her. It was so appropriate. The last few days have been a whirlwind. I got the call from my Mom on Friday late morning that my Grandma had died in her sleep the night before. The rest of the day became a blur of trying to coordinate travel plans, finishing up the necessary tasks and packing so that we could race up the road to Massachusetts. We jumped in the car Saturday at noon, spent the night at Ted's parents and arrived at my parents in the early afternoon on Sunday. We chose to drive over flying thanks to American Airlines wonderful "bereavement fares" which were inconvienent both in terms of schedule and cost...it would have cost well over $1,000 for us to fly up there. The wake was Monday, funeral Tuesday and after the lunch we jumped in the car and drove back down to Ted's parents. We arrived home at lunchtime today, exhausted but so happy that we were able to make the trip.

Katherine was again excellent on the long drive and during the services. As my Uncle said..."Thank God for Katie." She took the edge off of what was a tough couple of days for my family. I was concerned about her behavior both during the wake and the funeral, however my family immediately said to let her play and not worry because that is what my Grandma would have wanted and she would have said the exact same thing if she was there. I'm sure she was looking down and enjoying watching Katherine play. Grandma loved children. I'm thrilled that she was able to get to know Katherine in spite of the distance. The picture above is from K's baptism, Grandma gave K. her bedtime bottle and held her until she fell asleep. I think she would have sat in that chair and held her all night.

While I know Katherine had no idea what was really going on, I think she sensed that we were all sad and we needed some extra love. Friday night while I was packing she gave me a hug and kiss and said "Its ok Mommy." During the funeral she went up and down the pew giving smiles and hugs. When I handed her a tissue to wipe her nose, she handed it to my Dad..."here Papa." She knew he needed it more.

There's so much more I want to say about my Grandma but right now I can't do it without bursting into tears. Those stories will have to be saved for another time. For right now, I'm going to try and get some sleep as its back to the routine tomorrow. More soon.