Grandma

Monday morning I got one of those phone calls that no one ever wants to get.  My dad told me that my Grandma (mom's mom) had passed away suddenly early that morning.  Brad, Samantha, and I came into Pittsburgh late Tuesday night for the viewing yesterday and the funeral today.  It's certainly been an intense few days, but ones that have been full of grace and the full gamut of emotions.  I thought it might help to sort some of them out by sharing my thoughts of my Grandma with the blogosphere.

One of my initial reactions was how sad I was that Grandma and Gabriella would never get to meet, at least not in this lifetime.  I spent yesterday morning writing a letter to our little girl, telling her about her great-grandma and the special pieces of her legacy that I hope she inherits . . . her strength and her faithfulness to name a few.

For example, one of the most touching testimonies of her life over these past few days has been the numerous members of the Eat 'n Park wait staff that have come to pay their respects.  My Grandma has eaten at the SAME restaurant EVERY DAY since 1994.  (Brad is still trying to process this concept.)  Every day, she would eat lunch at this Eat 'n Park with my uncle and throughout the years, the servers and management just become family.  They brought a bouquet of green smiley-face cookies, an Eat 'n Park specialty (my Grandma's favorite . . . she really only liked the green ones).  Brad commented that it was an illustration of the lives that can be touched simply by living a life of consistency over a long period of time.  

I have learned some new things about her, too.  When my Grandma and Pop Pop moved to Moon Township (where they lived their entire lives), the area was largely undeveloped and rural.  They were charter members at the now large, Catholic church that is near their house.  I looked at Brad when I found out and said, "Wow!  Grandma was a church planter!"  My dad smiled and pointed out that it's in my genes.

Our baby girl has quite a legacy of great-grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles and so many other loved ones on both sides of the family who have given her such a strong spiritual heritage.  Brad's mom and I prayed on Monday and she gave me such a cool picture that right now Grandma and Pop Pop could be meeting Grandma and Grandpa Palmer (her mom and dad).  Our family kept saying yesterday that while it was a sad day for us, it was a great day for Grandma.  What a day it will be when we are all reunited once again!

I'm including a few pics that I found from the last few Christmas and Thanksgiving holidays.  You can see where Ashley got her red hair, and how much Grandma and I liked to catch a post-holiday meal nap. :-)