*sadness*
I don't use LJ all that much. Mainly just to lurk and keep up on a couple people that I'm not friends with on FB. But for the benefit of others who might keep track of ME this way I decided I had to make a post.
My Grandma died yesterday morning. She was 95 and so it wasn't completely a shock, at that age you have to think every time you see them it might be the last time. But still. She was the matriarch of the family, the center, family gatherings always revolved around her. My entire life she has lived in the same house, 22 Park St in Alfred. My oldest memories of Grandma and Grandpa are in that house. I remember sitting at her beautiful hardwood desk (the kind they don't make anymore) and playing with her office supplies. She had a printing calculator!!! When you're 8 that's amazing. (Keep in mind, this is Apple IIe era.) The carpet in the dining room is older than I am! Nearly all the furniture is the same.
I lived with her while I went to grad school... then again for a year after I got back from Japan. She helped me buy my car... a couple of them actually, and helped pay for college. She came to so many band concerts, went to soccer games and dance recitals, graduations. She had planned to come to my students' musical last weekend, but wasn't feeling well. She was a loyal Bills fan and got very interested in (as she put it) Mad March following Syracuse. She loved her grandkids, and was so proud of her great-grandsons.
She was a civilian aviation spotter during WWII and worked for the SUNY College of Ceramics until they went completely digital and she just didn't want to learn to use computers. She still drove until about a year ago! I think she might be the last one in town to have the special AU (Alfred Univerity) license plates... 27 AU. Its been hard the last couple years as one by one her friends have passed away. Grandpa died back in 1986 and she's lived alone since then (except when one of her grandkids would move in for a time). She was a great lady and it is just amazing to think how the world has changed in her lifetime. I'm just happy she's been reunited with Grandpa and Mom and all her friends. I'm sure they had a glass of wine ready for her and had one heck of a party!
Love you, Grandma.
My Grandma died yesterday morning. She was 95 and so it wasn't completely a shock, at that age you have to think every time you see them it might be the last time. But still. She was the matriarch of the family, the center, family gatherings always revolved around her. My entire life she has lived in the same house, 22 Park St in Alfred. My oldest memories of Grandma and Grandpa are in that house. I remember sitting at her beautiful hardwood desk (the kind they don't make anymore) and playing with her office supplies. She had a printing calculator!!! When you're 8 that's amazing. (Keep in mind, this is Apple IIe era.) The carpet in the dining room is older than I am! Nearly all the furniture is the same.
I lived with her while I went to grad school... then again for a year after I got back from Japan. She helped me buy my car... a couple of them actually, and helped pay for college. She came to so many band concerts, went to soccer games and dance recitals, graduations. She had planned to come to my students' musical last weekend, but wasn't feeling well. She was a loyal Bills fan and got very interested in (as she put it) Mad March following Syracuse. She loved her grandkids, and was so proud of her great-grandsons.
She was a civilian aviation spotter during WWII and worked for the SUNY College of Ceramics until they went completely digital and she just didn't want to learn to use computers. She still drove until about a year ago! I think she might be the last one in town to have the special AU (Alfred Univerity) license plates... 27 AU. Its been hard the last couple years as one by one her friends have passed away. Grandpa died back in 1986 and she's lived alone since then (except when one of her grandkids would move in for a time). She was a great lady and it is just amazing to think how the world has changed in her lifetime. I'm just happy she's been reunited with Grandpa and Mom and all her friends. I'm sure they had a glass of wine ready for her and had one heck of a party!
Love you, Grandma.