My grandmother was a very forgiving person. She was someone who was always letting things go and she really did it out of love for her children. My crazy Aunt had been using this to her advantage for years and even though it drove me and my father mad she seemed to not really want to put her foot down. For her it seemed to be like another day and when something would happen she would make little noise and then she would quiet down. I honestly don’t know how she had so much self-control but I can say that I slightly respected her for it. At the first sign of anybody ripping off money from me or even causing trouble under my roof I would have kicked them out. Not paying rent? You have a week to pack up and go. 

But this wasn’t the case for my grandmother. she put up with a lot from my Aunt and she did it in a way that most people would have cracked form. I know I certainly would have. 

Of course my grandmother wasn’t just a forgiving person. She was also someone who loved my grandfather so much that she stayed married to him for almost seventy five years. Seventy five. She was always by his side and they were a couple that stayed together as long as possible. My grandfather unfortunately died first and in his last few years my grandmother took care of him. She made sure he got where he needed to go and when he was ready to pass on she made sure he did it how he wanted to. Under his own roof and in his own bed. Luckily he got that. My grandmother almost got the same wish but on her last day it was deemed medically necessary to move her to the hospital so that she was comfortable. To her she died in her house but the rest of us know. 

Sadly I did not get to say goodbye to her and I do wish I could have been there. It’s hard enough to know that someone's time is coming but it’s harder when you don’t know exactly. You do all you can and you try to be there as much as possible and sometimes you win and other times you lose. In this situation we lost. 

I will say that I am glad that I got to see her months before and to have a conversation with her. I got to talk to her, tell her about what was going on and get her blessing. I even got to tell her about all my plans and saw her light up when I told her I was going to New Zealand. I may not have gotten to say goodbye but at least I did get to spend some time with her and make her smile. 

If there is another side I am sure she is with Grandpa now and is as happy as can be to be reunited with him. 

See you on the other side