First Grade

Pool Gram

That was her name given to her by my sister because, well, they had a pool in their backyard (duh!). The pool came down when I was really small but the name stayed. She passed away Friday night, 90 years old and, until this spring, lived very independently at home.


The pictures you see above and below are her holding a baby Katherine and a baby Teddy on the weekend of their baptisms. There are some wonderful old pictures of her that I thought I had scanned in but now can’t seem to find. They are real gems of pics, my grandma as a small child with her brothers with an adorable toddler scowl on her face, my grandparents wedding picture at Fort Riley, Kansas, her posing with my dad as a baby with the inscription “As Always, Mary and Franny” written in the bottom corner.

In 2003 Ted and I were preparing for our wedding when he was deployed to Iraq. She called me a day or two later and told me “I know how you feel.” I knew that she knew exactly how I felt, probably the only one in my family who could directly relate to what I was going to. Her support and comfort meant the most along the way. And now I realize that my experience paled in comparison to hers. In her time there was no email, no constant news feed or imbedded reporters. She was newly married, pregnant then caring for a newborn (my dad)…I don’t know how she did it. I don’t think she knew how she did it either, she didn’t question, she just did what needed to be done.

One of my earliest “flashbulb” type memories is laying in the crib at my grandparents’ house. I had to have been in the crib by the positioning of myself in the room because that’s where the crib was when we were small. It was daytime so I must have been put down for a nap. I also remember sleeping over their house, playing in the kiddie pool in their backyard (the pool long gone), Christmas Eve’s in their living room (all 15 of us squished in there!), riding in the backseat of the car, working on puzzles and activities together. I can still hear her laugh. There are certain sights, tastes and smells that I will forever associate with her and my grandfather: Progresso Minestrone Soup, downtown Springfield, the smell of some fertilizers (they were ChemLawn customers), music from the 40’s. They were committed members of Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church in Springfield…correctly pronounced in one word as “Ourladyahope”. Their pew was on the right as you walked in, about 10 rows up from the door, on the end closest to the wall.

This passing also means that all of my grandparents are gone a bittersweet milestone that I knew would come one day. There’s a picture on my dresser, the last picture of me taken with all of them. It’s my college graduation, sunny and warm. There they all are in their finest suits. They told me they were so proud of me that day. I hope I’ve continued to make them proud. I know not everyone is lucky enough to know their grandparents, I am very fortunate to have had a wonderful relationship with all of my grandparents and I’m grateful that my kids are forming great relationships with theirs as well. As I grow older I see a part of each of them in me. I know I get my stubbornness, my knack to just keep pecking away at something until it’s finished from Pool Gram. My “that table is crooked by about an inch”. I think about the hundreds of sweaters, hat, mittens and blankets she’s knitted…all of them perfect. She taught me how to knit (and sew) multiple times, it never stuck…I just didn’t have the patience for it…and I knew whatever I did wouldn’t be perfect.

I’ll be traveling back up to Massachusetts Wednesday morning to attend the services. I didn’t expect to be going back up so quickly (we just arrived home on Thursday) but it really is a blessing for her. I hope the first person she saw in heaven was my grandpa holding the baby girl she never got to meet. Now they have eternity to get to know one another.

At the car wash...

Getting ready to help Daddy wash the car.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone