Great Grandma

On 12/12/12, very late in the evening, I received the devastating call that my Grandma had passed away.  My heart instantly broke and my Grandma will forever be missed.  

Let me rewind for a minute.

Several weeks before, we had planned a trip to go visit my Grandma in the Chicago area.  It had been about a year since we had visited and I was anxious to visit again - first and foremost to see her, but also to have her see the kids and catch up with other family in the area.  Last year we drove out, it was about a 12 hour trip which is not easy with a 5 month old and a 3.5 yr old.  But we had fun and were already thinking about the logistics of our next visit.  We got a great airfare deal so we pulled the trigger and were all set for a four day visit.  On Wednesday, the day before our trip, I got a call that my Grandma was in the hospital and we may have to cancel the trip.  I was so sad - I had been looking forward to this trip and I know she had as well.  Later in the day we concluded things were too up in the air with her condition for her to have visitors.  Matt and I were so disappointed, as was Teagan.  We figured we'd just reschedule after the first of the year.  We were trying to make lemonade out of the lemons we had been handed so we rerouted our plane tickets to Orlando and booked a hotel.  We both had vacation time we would lose if we didn't use it.  We repacked our bags (see last post) and were actually excited for a little R&R to ease the disappointment of the cancelled Chicago trip.  My last to-do before bed was to jump in the shower and it was just after I got out that I got the call from my mom.  

Grandma was the most wonderful woman you'd ever meet.  I have so many fond memories from my childhood of Christmas and summer trips to visit my Grandparents.  Twenty four hours later and I would have gotten to see her one last time.  I feel grateful that both Teagan and Declan had the chance to meet her, but saddened by the fact that we weren't able to squeeze in that one final visit.  I do find solace in the fact that Grandma was looking forward to our visit and if it made her final days happy that makes me happy.  There are constant reminders of her everywhere I go, and I want her memory to forever live on with myself and my children of the good times we shared and the amazing woman she was.

After we left for Orlando we were notified of the arrangements that had been made for my Grandma, so we changed our trip to come back Sunday instead of Monday.  We got in the car at the Buffalo airport around 5:30pm and instead of driving East to come home we drove West, through Canada, to Michigan.  The visitation and funeral were Monday and the military burial was Tuesday.  It was so great to see my extended family but the circumstances really stunk.  I know Grandma would have loved that everyone was together so I tried to think of that.  A lot of tears were shed and a lot of memories were relived.  Declan of course doesn't understand or even remember her, but Teagan does and she had a lot of questions.  I tried to answer them the best I could. There were times when I was crying and she'd rub my arm and look at me, into my eyes, wanting to make sure I was OK.  We drove home Tuesday afternoon after the beautiful military burial at the cemetery.  It was a long week for both the kids and us, and particularly emotionally draining for me.

I'd like to share a few photos from over the years.  We visited Grandma in Michigan in February, 2010 when Teagan was around 8 months old.  Again in September 2010 when Teagan was 2.5 and I was about 7 weeks pregnant with Declan.  I remember having the worst morning sickness and Grandma probably thought I was crazy for all of my random snacking.  We visited again in September 2011, after Grandma had moved to Chicago, when Teagan was 3.5 and Declan was 5 months.  I need to dig out my photos from the 2010 visit - with the 24 weeks of morning sickness I endured, I never got around to editing the photos from the trip and they are tucked away on an external drive somewhere, but I'd like to preserve the memories for myself and for Teagan.

Teagan (3.5), Great Grandma, and Declan (5m)

Left - Great Grandma and Declan (5m), Right - Great Grandma and Teagan (8m)

Four generations - Erin (25), Teagan (8m), Sue, Great Grandma

Rest in peace Grandma - you will be missed.  I know you and Grandpa are together again in heaven, I hope you enjoyed reuniting for your 67th wedding anniversary

K.E.N - 4/2/25 - 12/12/12

K.W.N - 1/6/25 - 12/26/10