Endings

After a month and a half of summertime when the livin' was easy, the last two weeks have been crazy busy.  I've flown nearly 4,000 miles, and spent more time in cars than I care to remember (suffice to say, enough to listen to twenty-some episodes of A History of the World in 100 Objects and to sing along to all of BSB's Millenium, because really, who doesn't want it that way?).  I've slept in three different beds, and watched three Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers Movies and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.  I've caught up with old friends and met second cousins I never knew I had.  You might say it's been rather exciting.

In the middle of all of that excitement, when one event began almost as soon as the preceding one finished, I didn't really notice the endings because there was always had something else to get ready for right away.  But when I dropped Kate off at the airport yesterday, and all of the hullabaloo finally died down, it was as if all of the endings of all of the last couple of weeks hit me at once.  I never do endings very well, but when they're all piled into one day, forget it.  Time to dim the lights, pour a glass of wine, and start eating gelato straight from the pint.  It's fitting then, I suppose, that the first ending I want to tell you about is not only the most important, but also the saddest.

On Friday, August 5th, my paternal grandmother passed away.  She had been struggling for some months now, and after fighting off bouts of pneumonia and suffering a broken hip this year, she was struck with a few seizures and never fully recovered. She spent a couple of weeks at the hospital before she was finally discharged and brought back home. She drew her last breath less than 24 hours later.  I think she must have wanted it that way.  After her death, the next few days were a flurry of preparations that culminated in a visitation, a funeral, and an entombment.

When I was growing up, the best part of visiting Grandma and Granddad's house was the moment when I was invited to enter my grandparents' bedroom, tiptoe up to the bureau, and select a Red Rose tea Wade figurine from my grandma's ever-changing collection to take home with me.  For years, those ceramic animals were carefully displayed on top of my own bureau, until I got too old for them and they were relegated to a cupboard.  I had forgotten how many of them I had until I pulled them all out again today.

At the luncheon at my grandparents' house after the funeral, I didn't creep into the bedroom in search of another figure for my collection, but I did eat a few Ruffles - a food I almost never ate, except when we visited their house - in memoriam.

After three days of memorial services and visits from extended family, I was exhausted.  But there was no time to rest, because the next day, I had a flight to catch to Seattle.  And with the promise of that happier topic to come soon, I'll bid you adieu as my grandma would have done, with a request that you come see me again soon.