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My maternal, and only living grandmother passed away a few minutes ago. She had been sick for several months. It was not a surprise.
I am sad she is gone, but I wish her a fresh start wherever she may be. She had not been the same since my grandfather, the love of her life, passed away more than a decade ago.
Pat was a county clerk. She knew official shorthand/stenotyping. She worked at her job for many years, and was well known and beloved.
She was a gambler, and loved going to the casino.
She was a gamer, and owned an original NES and many games for it. She’s the one who got me into gaming as hobby.
For a while, in her retirement, she was a smuggler. She bought cigarettes at the nearby reservation (well over the allowed import limit) and sold them to friends and family at a discount that equaled out to a bit more than gas money.
She loved tv, and mystery shows, especially the show Monk.
When she was younger, and my grandfather was alive she would go run tables with him at craft shows- he was a carpenter professionally, and built shelves. He had been in the military when they were young.
Pat had several children biologically (though only one with the love of her life), and more that she raised as a foster mother. She was warm and loving.
She grew up as a woman during the microwaves are neat era, and she cooked like it. I am very lucky to have her classic wonderbread stuffing recipe.
My grandma and I didn’t get along very well when I was an adult– we honestly never had much in common, but I loved going to her house for the holidays, and she was always a warm and welcoming hostess.
My favorite memories of her are when I was young, and would get to stay over at her house on weekends. Her patient, if somewhat distant company was a welcome relief to my own home life.
My grandma lived into her eighties, and saw the birth of many grandchildren and great grand children.
I hope that if she has occasion to reflect on this life that she lived, that she agrees it was as fulfilling and valuable as it seems it was to me.
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