A tribute to a very special lady.

Yesterday, my special little Grandma passed away. She had just turned 98 years old on Tuesday.

Grandma and I at my wedding, March 13th, 2009.

She is one fantastic person. She has always been so generous and giving towards all of her family members, and has helped Nathan and I out A LOT since we've been married. She payed off my car for me when I bought the beetle, and I make payments directly to her so that I wouldn't have to pay interest to the bank. I still have a balance to pay...which I still will. She is a patient person.

She has also let us live in her adorable house for the last year, rent free. She bought Evelyn a brand new beautiful crib just about a month ago when she heard that we were going to put her in an old, outdated, and "unsafe" one.

These are just three of the recent things she has done for us, but there has been so much more.

Just after moving in to her house last August, I found a box in the basement of all of the drawings and crafts that I had made for her growing up. She had saved every one! She had also saved programs from every single production, recital, and concert that I had performed in. On each program, she had written a little note to me, saying what a wonderful job I had done, and how proud she was to be my Grandma. She didn't show these notes to me, but obviously intended me to find them later. I was so touched, and I cried as I read each one.

I spent a lot of time at Grandma's house as a kid. I grew up a block away from them, and would ride my bike up to her house almost daily. She put up with a lot of my silly quirks. For instance, I remember that every single time the power would go out in the neighborhood, I would call her on the phone to see if her power was out, and then marvel with her that the phone was still working while the power was not. Shocking! :)

I remember eating parsnips and ramen noodles (not at the same time) while sitting at her pull-out breadboard in the kitchen. I remember her washing my dirty little bare feet in her big bathroom sink that she referred to as "the basin".

Things I never want to forget about her:

- Her perfect hair that she had done every single Thursday for as long as I've known her.

- Her little neck pillow that she slept on to protect her hair from being smooshed at night.

- The trail of kleenexes that she left behind her everywhere.

- The way she would always tell me "Ohhh, don't get old Katy, don't get old."

- Canned peaches and pears.

- Onion and butter sandwiches.

- The smell of baby powder that followed her everywhere.

- Her plastic wind bonnet, to again, protect her hair.

- Pizzelles on Valentine's Day.

- Her perfect sense of propriety and perfect grammar.

- The way she would underline every important word in her birthday cards.

- Her love and devotion to every single one of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She knew all of their names and birthdays, and never missed a single one!

I love you, Grandma! You are one of the classiest ladies I know!