my angel of a grandma.

(my grandma and rachel watching a movie at kelly's in Utah last summer. Rachel was named after my grandma. Her middle name is Margaret, which is my Grandma's first name. Notice her red toe nails. We had gone and gotten pedicures that day. smile.)

It is 10:16pm and I am eating my leftovers from my delicious mexican feast for lunch today at macayos. My Grandma and I are so naughty. She is worse than me about going out to eat. It is so fun though, to eat something yummy and talk and talk.

How cool to have my Grandma (who is 88) all to myself. I have never met someone like her. She is the least judgemental person I have ever met. She enjoys absolutely everyone. It is impossible to not feel comfortable around her and accepted no matter who you are. When you talk to her she always has a kindness in her eyes and a constant chuckle that we all adore in our family. Grandma's laugh is all the goodness, warmth, and comfort in life wrapped up into one sound.

She is proof that there is truth to the term, "young at heart." I remember visiting her one time and we were both laying in bed together reading our books and talking. I was lamenting that I couldn't believe that I was already 26! I still felt 18 inside. Her reply was, "How do you think I feel? I still feel 21!"

I love how she loves children. Many elderly people are done with kids and are irritated by them (which I understand). She loves to be in the midst of kids and just laughs and laughs at every little thing they say and do. One of my favorite memories of her when I was little was being at her house and watching cartoons with her like bugs bunny. She just laughed and laughed when she watched them. I just couldn't believe even than, that an older person could enjoy cartoons like that.

I have always equated her with unconditional love and comfort. Being at her house was like being wrapped up in a warm blanket. We always looked forward to going to her (and grandpa's) house on Sundays. They lived in a home that my grandpa designed and built up at the top of Mt. Baldy in Southern CA. It was such an awesome place. A work in progress. We had so many fun places to roam and explore. I loved playing barbies with the vintage barbies that my Grandma had saved. We really really looked forward to her cooking. I remember my dad's favorite being homemade noodles with a sauce over mashed potatoes. I loved sitting at the bar in her kitchen watching her and my mom talk and laugh as they cooked together. My mom was always happy when she was with her mom. Grandma says that they had the same sense of humor and always called each other with new funny stories to laugh about.

After a wonderful afternoon and evening at her house we would all pile into the station wagon with full bellies and happy hearts. My Grandparents would send us off with such love. It felt so good. As we drove away I would always stay awake to see all of the city lights below as we drove down the mountain. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day. Than I would drift off to sleep with the pleasantest of thoughts.

I am so happy that my kids know my Grandma. That they love her like I do. They are all begging her to live with us. She has talked about assisted living, so tonight as we sat down to watch "murder she wrote" reruns (we are having a marathon), she mentioned that she needed a pillow for her chair. Jacob runs over, grabs a pillow, and plops it where she needs it and says, "There you go, assisted living, for a lot less money." I don't know who my Grandma is more in love with Dave or Jacob. She hangs on their every word and giggles like a school girl at their every joke and quip. They are just soaking it up and are using all their charms for which they are richly rewarded. Grandma was saying today at lunch that her girlfriends will just be so jealous when she tells about being so catered to by a handsome doctor. Yeah, Dave is loving it. Jacob is fighting for position as number one though, and told her he is taking her on a hot date golfing this weekend. He wants her to see him golf. My Grandma loves golf, and until recently golfed weekly.

Yep, she is finally slowing down, and we are all frantic to spend as much time with her as possible. She is so worried that she will be a burden. I tell her over and over what an honor and privilege it would be to have her with us. To be able to share even a portion of the love she has shown to me. Life is all about loving and caring for our family. I can think of nothing more important. She has been one of the sweetest best parts of my life. I want to make sure that her last years are some of her best and sweetest.