A Life Well Lived.

October 27, 1911 - May 27, 2017

My incredible Grandma passed away peacefully this weekend at exactly 105 years 7 months old. 

When you live that long, every day and month counts towards your age.

If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you may have seen my posts about Grammy every year on her birthday. 

Today's post is one I never wanted to write.

Part of me thought Grammy was invincible and that she would outlive all of us.

I just couldn't imagine my life without Grammy.

Grammy was the Matriarch of our family & even though we knew this day would eventually come, we are heartbroken.
Family was the most important thing to Grammy. 

She loved us fiercely and always told me how much she loved me and that she was so proud of me. 

Grammy was born October 27, 1911 in the Blue Hills of Idaho.
She was the 3rd child of 7 children.
(She and her youngest sister are the only ones still alive. Jean is the baby of the family & is in her late 80's)
Her family moved briefly to Oregon and then settled in Eureka, California.
She married and then became a bank teller for Wells Fargo.
She survived the Roaring 20's, The Great Depression & The World War Era.
She is a Daughter of the American Revolution.
We have had 45 US Presidents. Grammy has gotten to experience 19 of them! That is 42% of our total US Presidents.
When she was born, there were only 46 states in the USA.

In 1952, she had a surprise baby at age 41...my mom!
She has 2 daughters, 6 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren.

Look at this family photo...it was taken on her 100th birthday. 
This is her legacy....this started with one single mother (my Grammy) and her 2 girls (my aunt & my mom)

The above photo doesn't include Luke, my sisters 2 kids or my cousin's 3rd child because they weren't born yet. 
Grammy was blessed. Beauty from ashes.

She taught me how to be a strong & independent woman...she was the strongest woman I know & she lived through a lot in her 105 + years of life.

Grammy gave me the nickname "Missy" when I was a little girl. 

She is the ONLY person who can call me that. 

Grammy makes you feel special & whenever I would visit, she would tell me that the 4 years I played soccer at Colorado were some of the proudest years of her life.

Here are things that I learned from Grammy that she passed on to me:

Pink is the best color

Fall is our favorite season

Each day should be started with a cup of coffee

Surround yourself with positive people 

Have a home cooked meal waiting for people when they arrive at your house

Whenever we would visit Grammy, she would wake us up in the morning by coming into the room, opening the shades and shouting 

"Wake up! It's daylight in the swap"

Grammy lived about 2.5 hours from us in the Central Valley and growing up we would visit her throughout the year.

I have the best memories from my childhood going to Grammy's house. My aunt, uncle & cousins lived the same town as Grammy. 

Growing up we spent every Memorial Day weekend there & every Thanksgiving at her house. 

Everytime we got to Grammy's house she had a pot of homemade split pea soup on the stove (even during the summer when it is 100 degrees out!) 

When my older sister and I were 10 & 12 my parents let us take Amtrack (by ourselves!) to visit Grammy. I will never forget that trip!

When my mom told me the news that she passed, I couldn't believe it happened on Memorial Day Weekend, it's bittersweet.

My childhood memories of Memorial Day are of spending the weekend at Grammy's house and watching the Indy 500 with my aunt, uncle & cousins. 

My birthday often falls on Memorial Day Weekend, so growing up, most of my birthdays were celebrated with Grammy.

Memorial Day weekend will continue to remind me of Grammy.

Grammy loved to cook and feed her us.

Some of my favorite recipes are ones that I got from Grammy.

Monkey Bread, Banana Bread, Zucchini Bread & Split Pea Soup are things she made us pretty much every time we visited her. 

  

The soup was our lunch every time we got to Grammy's house and she did this up until she was 103 years old and lived on her own. 

After Grammy turned 103 and moved out of her house, my aunt and mom had us go through the house and take things that were special to us.

I knew I wanted her recipe cards.

I got stacks of Grammy's recipes held together by rubber bands that were so old they were crumbling.
Recipe cards with Grammy's handwriting.
Recipe cards typed out with flour dusted on them.
Recipes as far back from 1920's & 1930's
(Grammy dated most of her recipe cards, so I knew exactly when they were from)

Seeing her familiar handwriting on the recipe cards is so comforting.
Reading through the recipe cards & recognizing some of my favorite things from visiting Grammy's house....so priceless. The recipe cards & cookbooks still smell like Grammy's house.

My plan is to go through the recipes and make a family cookbook for all the women in our family so that we can all have a piece of Grammy's cooking in our kitchens. 

The last time I saw Grammy was on her 105th Birthday.

Her vision, hearing & memory were all fading (which is to be expected when you are 105) so we knew it would just be a matter of time.  Pretty incredible to not be on any medications or have any health issues when you are that age.

 

Everyone always asked Grammy her advice for living so long & for being in such good health.  

Here is her list of advice:
1. Surround yourself with your family and people you love.
2. Drink Coffee every morning.
3. Have a Happy Hour cocktail everyday (Grammy's preference is a Cranberry Vodka)
4. Stay away from hospitals & doctors.
5. Be positive.

Cheers to you, Grammy. You exemplified a life well lived.

There was no one like her and I can't believe she's gone.

Rest In Peace, Grammy.