“The disease slowly took away her ability to form coherent sentences. But somehow, we always found a way to understand each other; love has a way of filling in the gaps. Gram is a force to be reckoned with.”
‘She’d walk into a room and shout, ‘Grammy’s here, have no fear!’ The woman was a force! Anywhere she went, she was the center of attention.’: Woman shares ode to fierce grandma battling Alzheimer’s
‘I love you, too.’ She’d finally remembered me. I curled up in her arms, taking it all in. It was the last time I’d see her alive.’: Woman shares sweet reminder to ‘hug your grandparents while you can’
“These hands belonged to the feistiest woman I knew. They comforted me in my hardest times, wrapped around me in times of celebration. They rocked me…and my first born. And even when she forgot who I was, they interlaced mine. Today, I pray you all live like Nana.”
‘My grandmother always kept a whistle next to the phone.’: Woman shares touching life lesson from grandma, ‘Blow a whistle on anything that disturbs your peace’
“I know. It’s strange, right? I’ve come to believe it is either absolutely crazy or pure genius.”
‘One day, I opened up her cookbook. Inside was an inscription. I cried tears I didn’t know I had.’: Woman honors late grandmother with tattoo, ‘I love you forever and always’
“Naming my child after my grandmother never seemed like enough. It never seemed like it was enough to pay tribute to the woman who meant more to me than I could ever express in words.”
‘The principal came over the loudspeaker. ‘What’s going on?’ I panicked as we left. ‘They can’t find your Grandma Myrna.’: Woman remembers grandma lost on 9/11, ‘I still miss her laugh’
“She worked at the World Trade Center, and she’d shop on her lunch break. She ALWAYS had the most out-of-this-world clothing. She was constantly turning heads. ‘Do you think Grandma is gone?’ All I remember is the way she looked at me.”
‘I wonder what she would have thought of all the hoarding. That’s not how they did it back then. She made reusing aluminum foil fun.’: Woman worries about her generation, ‘We have a bold task ahead’
“I can remember my grandmother’s engaging and sometimes horrific stories of sacrifice. She could cook big feed the masses until all of our buttons burst. And she did this with a very limited fixed income. No part of a chicken roast was ever wasted.”
‘My grandma showed up in the OR during my c-section. She had a few choice words for the doctors.’: Grandmother teaches pregnant woman important lesson about kindness in dream
“When I shared this dream with her, she laughed! She said she’d have to start consciously watching her language again before Little Man arrives. Their minds are not the only ones impacted by this chatter.”
‘Your grandma has spiked a fever.’ ‘The nursing home was hit with COVID-19. My fierce, stubborn 98-year-old Italian little woman of a Nana fell victim.’: Woman mourns grandma lost to Covid-19, ‘Today Nana left us and my heart is broken’
“Telling my Nana my life wasn’t going to be what she expected, as I’d met the person I intended to marry and it was not a ‘he,’ was the most difficult moment of my life. I watched her heart break in front of me, fully aware I was the cause. Years later, at my wedding, she looked at me and said, ‘The LGBTQ community is the happiest group of people I’ve ever been part of.’ Today, Nana left us. My heart is broken.”
‘Just keep me comfortable.’ She seemed sure and confident, even in the whisper that had become her voice.’: Woman describes bond with ‘vibrant’ grandmother, ‘I appreciate having been on the receiving end for so many years’
“The first thing my daughter, Leah, said upon entering the hospital room was ‘pacifier,’ referring to the CPAP keeping my beautiful grandmother’s lungs expanding in that crisp, white hospital bed. Her red hair was squished in the back, eyes revealing fatigue, but thankfully not discomfort. She drove a white Thunderbird when I was a kid.”
‘Raising kids without my mother is much, much harder than I thought.’: Woman details parenthood after loss of mother, ‘It’s like driving without a GPS’
“‘Go ahead, I’ll watch the kids.’ The woman walks off, alone. She’ll be back soon, and anyway, her mother loves time with the grandkids. She’ll get a kick of watching the 3-year-old go up and down the tiny plastic slide. After the play space, they’ll do a little more shopping and grab lunch at the Food Court. Mostly, they’ll talk. It’s a common scene. But it makes a lump rise in my throat. I used to do this sort of thing, before my mom got too sick.”
