One of the things I remember getting most excited about when I was young was hearing that my Grandma was coming to visit. She was single as long as I knew her, strong and independent, and frequently traveled among her four children’s homes to visit. There was just an immense joy that entered the room when she showed up in her trench coat, a smile worn broad across her face. She was soft and compassionate but also tough. You knew she had endured incredibly hard things in life but still emerged with a child’s spirit tucked inside. She loved toys, mostly the simple ones like jacks, paddle balls, pinwheels, etc. They’d often be tucked into birthday or Christmas presents. She liked cake pops, getting an ice cream, any simple joy you can inject into a day. It was this light whimsical spirit, combined with a feeling she would fiercely protect you if need be, that made her so special. On these visits, any time I would see her in her nightgown or robe, it was frozen in time in memory. It meant she was truly with us. We got to have a slice of her time, during which she made us feel like we were the only people on the planet. She left us for glory, but left behind, among many other things, her sense of appreciating and clinging to the simple but happy things in life.
all images ©Holly M. Graham 2022
