Grandma Van

I love my Grandma Van. I love my Grandpa Van too, but this post is about her. When I think back to my childhood, some of my fondest memories were time spent at Grandma Van's house. Because we lived two states away, time with her was special and sacred. When the time came to say good-bye I would pretend to be asleep so no one would see me crying. I remember her hugs, her smell, her laugh, her cooking, and her mannerisms so vividly. So many things about her make me wish she was still here. This is especially true around Christmas time, when the years seem to melt into one.

I wish that she could meet Tom because I know she would love him. I wish she could meet Savannah and Benjamin and Jacob because I know she would find joy in taking them in her arms and singing to them. She would teach Savannah how to make a baby swaddled in a handkerchief, and oh the time Savannah would have playing dress up with Grandma's jewelry!! She would make sure that Benjamin and Jacob had proper manners and respected their mother. And she would teach them all the rules of her favorite card games. The older I get, the more I want to hold on to her and keep her memory alive. She's the reason I planted rose bushes in my yard. She's the reason I love playing Skip Bo. She's the reason I bought Sunkist Fruit Gems yesterday while shopping at Ross. And she's the reason I will ask Santa to put a dolly in Savannah's stocking this year, because that's how Grandma Van did it. Somehow in doing these things I feel closer to her or like she's closer to me somehow. Now I truly know what people mean when they say that you live on in your posterity. And I feel like she would be happy knowing that she's living on in me.