Grandma

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 It's not her birthday or even the anniversary of her death....but I'm thinking about my grandma.  This grandma was my mom's mom....and the one I connect the most with......she's been gone about 8 years now and it's crazy how often I think of her and remember specific things about her.  She was a great hugger.  She had a quiet laugh and an easy smile.  She never said anything bad about anyone.  She always smelled good.  She had a houseful of kids which gave her an easy hospitality that didn't fuss if things weren't perfect before guests came over.  She was a great cook and she had great style.....

This week we had potato salad for 4th of July and it made me remember my Grandma Mouw.  Yesterday I was assembling a strawberry pie and was laughing inside because the first time I tried to make one I was already married and a practicing adult and I had to call her because nowhere in the recipe did it tell me how long to bake the pie.  She seriously doubled over laughing on the phone (I know this because my sarcastic uncle was in the room with her and she had to tell him ALL ABOUT HOW I was asking about baking a strawberry pie... between giggles.....) and I heard about it every single June when the berries were ripe and ready....for YEARS.  Even now, post-mordum, they can poke fun of me in my own head.  (strawberry pies don't get baked, y'all)  

I'm thinking about Oatmeal raisen cookies with frosting, and bundt cake under the lid on the counter and candy in the Dutch Delft ceramic dish on the table.  I'm thinking about going for walks and sitting at her table having coffee when I was just the littlest one and all the grown ups let me sit quiet and listen.  I started drinking coffee as a young teen just to earn the right to stay there.  

Thanks Grandma for loving me so well and being so easy to love.  I know you are in Glory and at Peace and one day I will join you there and get another hug and enjoy the radiance of your smile.  Until then, I'll keep getting older and older every day and notice that my hands are starting to look more like yours when I wear a certain pink nail polish, and my profile resembles yours and your dad's.....and I'm getting softer and squishier in all the places that offer the best hugs to whoever comes in for one.  I may even try a batch of oatmeal raisen cookies with frosting one of these days.  I'll make really weak coffee that will sit in the pot half the day and I'll warm it in the microwave when I sit down for a cookie...just to remember you.

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