Cookie Grandma

Sometimes I don't know why I am so blessed. Why I had such an idyllic childhood surrounded by people who loved me and wanted the best for me. People who unselfishly spent time with me and taught me important values and life lessons.

At the top of that list was my Grandma Dorothy. I never doubted her love for me. I always felt not just loved, not just appreciated--but adored! Between the chocolate crinkle cookies she always kept in the freezer, the clothes she sewed for me, and teaching me to sew, our special walks to Armatidge Park to get fall leaves, long camping trips every summer, watching duck games and an occasional Days of Our Lives, and later, trips between Ontario and Eugene, always stopping at the Shoe Tree, I always felt her love for me.

Grammy, as I called her, passed away Thursday evening. She had lost most of her memory by then, living only in the present. Even though towards the end she didn't know my name or my kids' names, we still felt her love.

Love like that is beautiful. It is a gift from God, and it is Eternal. There's not a lot we can take with us from this life to the next. While I hold on to and cherish and now ration the knitted washcloths she expertly made, eventually they will wear out. I'll never again have chocolate crinkles made by her. But her love for me goes on. It's what ties us together in a long line of generations loving and teaching and caring for each other. Love like that is why I look forward to Eternity, and why I don't fear death. Our earthly experience together has ended, but not our love. That is forever.

So I'll miss you, Grammy. But I know I will see you again. And I look forward to the day that we can go on Heavenly walks. Imagine the fall colors in Heaven!