When my Dad was in 4th grade his Dad passed away. My Gramma raised 4 children completely on her own without even blinking an eye. I was told times were hard but she did it with grace because that's the kind of woman she is. My Gramma never once batted an eye at another man. She wore her wedding ring until the day she died. Harvey was her one true love and she knew that they would someday be together again.
I knew on this day a year ago that things were not good. I got a text from my Dad while I was at work saying call when you are not busy. Gramma's passing had been a long time coming. I swear the woman had 9 lives. She lived on her own until she was 91 when they put her into an assisted living center. She had been in and out of the hospital suffering from various strokes and eventually congestive heart failure. The doctors always said she was a walking miracle. Which she was from the day that she was born.
Gramma was born a few months premature after her mother fell off of a ladder. They called the doctor who came to the house and told them things did not look good. He proceed to warm up the over, put my Gramma in a cigar box, turned off the oven, and put the box with the little baby inside. He hoped that this would keep her warm for the night. Gramma ended up making it through the night and out lived many of her brothers and sisters. She always told that story and ended it with the tag line "so everyone always called me half baked adeline". It still makes me smile to think of my little old Gramma saying that.
When I called my Dad and he told me the news I broke down. Gramma was the first person that I had lost that I was very close to. I knew however that she was in a better place.
March 4th also happens to be my boyfriend Toms birthday. I remember felling like I needed to be in two places at once on this day last year. I needed to be in Iowa for Tom's birthday but I needed to also be in Illinois for my family. Tom, being the wonderful boyfriend that he is, told me to go be with my Dad. I felt so terrible that Tom's birthday would forever also be the day that we lost Gramma.
I have chosen however, to look at it in a positive light. The day my Gramma passed was the day she was reunited with the man she had loved her whole life. I know that he came to get her and they finally got to be together after all of those years. So my Gramma passing on Tom's birthday was almost like a gift. The relationship the two of them had is one to model my own after. They had an unconditional love for one another that could not be broken even when one of them was called to heaven too soon. Gramma leaving on this day, and being reunited with the love of her life, could have been her way of saying that Tom was special.
So today, a year later, is still a sad day but I feel blessed that I get to celebrate this day with Tom. He deserves the very best birthday ever. I still miss her everyday but she taught me so much in her time here and I know continues to watch over me today.
Happy Birthday Boyfriend!
