Dear Gram

posted by Momo Fali on June 7, 2010

Dear Gram,

Although you have been gone for almost twelve years, I think about you every day. I really miss you.

I miss the way you closed your eyes and threw your head back when you laughed. I do that too.

I miss how you welcomed the chaos that was a house full of grandchildren. I miss the taste of your spaghetti sauce and the way you would roll out and cut your own noodles.

I marvel at how you cooked huge, Sunday suppers in that tiny kitchen, with no counter space, no air conditioning and no dishwasher. I can barely get a meal made for four.

I miss you yelling at me and my cousins to get out of the trees before we break our necks, to quit jumping around in a house with old wiring because we might start a fire and I miss you giving us a grocery list and sending us on our way. We took so long to get back from the store because we stopped to pick mulberries along the way. I suppose you always knew that when we came back with stained fingers.

I loved how you would say, “Everyone needs to be quiet because my story is coming on!” and within five minutes of As the World Turns starting you would be sound asleep. I miss you glaring at us in church when we had the giggles.

I miss you letting us go through your makeup drawer and use your little, Avon lipstick samples. I miss the smell of the roses in your back yard. I miss playing kickball and using your azalea bush as home plate.

I miss watching you take care of Kevin with strength and grace. I am still amazed at the way you would wrap your arms around his chest and “walk” him from room to room. It was the closest thing he had to doing it on his own.

I hate that I was pregnant with my daughter when you died. I wish she had known you. I can’t think of a better role-model, mentor, relative or human being than you. I am so proud to be your grand-daughter.

I know it was a gift to have you around as long as we did, but that doesn’t mean I will ever stop wishing that you were still here.

Love,

Diane

    Comments

  • Coral


    What great memories you have of her. She sounds like she was a special woman.

  • melissa


    i loved my grandfather like that.
    *sniffle*

    p.s my word verification…sniful

  • Sadia


    This was lovely, Momo.

    I've found myself talking to my daughters about my Nanu (maternal grandmother) a lot recently. They would have loved each other. Plus, if she were still around, I bet my kids would speak Bengali.

  • BEAN


    I second what WeaselMomma said.

    Mo, I have long known what your Grandmother has meant to you, ever since you took me up to see 'the baby room' when a bunch of us were over to watch "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?". You've talked about her and I've heard many little stories, but this made it all new. What a wonderful tribute to her. Thanks for sharing that, and for giving all of us a reason to think and feel certain things.

  • SurprisedMom


    I wonder what's in the air? I've been thinking so much about my grandmother lately, that and this post are making me teary-eyed. Your gram and mine could be related because so much is familiar to me. I miss my Grandma so much and also wish my girls could have met her. My oldest is named after her and so I am. (We have two different names.)

    There's nothing like a loving Grandma.

  • AlisonH


    Kevin made me *sniff* too. Thank you for reminding me of my own late grandmother. She was 59 when I was born, 96 when she passed.

    And she loved being the co-conspirator at 95 with my kids for them to get all the candy they wanted when we visited.

  • meleah rebeccah


    OH!!!! Momo! That was the most beautiful tribute. xoxoxo

  • UP


    My grandmothers died two days apart. I was 14, it was very difficult, both were great, and my folks were broken-hearted. It was the first time I ever saw my Mother cry.

    UP

  • Jaina


    She sounds like a beautiful person. Thank you for this lovely tribute.

  • The Urban Cowboy


    What a wonderful tribute to a beautiful person in your life. I miss my grandparents immensely.

  • Heather


    I am so fortunate to have my Grams still but I worry every day that I could lose her. I am sending big hugs to you.

  • Oscar


    Thats real sweet.

    I had a grandmother like that.

    I'm sure she appreciates this.

  • Jenna Consolo


    Wow. You were so lucky to have a grandmother like that.

  • Trackbacks

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    Wednesday, 13 June, 2012

    […] instance, I can’t think of my grandma without smelling her spaghetti sauce. Though, it was never accompanied by spaghetti, always […]

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    […] floor next to the butcher block where the Christmas ham was perched. It was the same place where my grandma spent hours rolling out dough and cutting noodles by hand. She had no dishwasher, no air […]