See Ya Later Alligator...

My crazy life and why I've been blog slacking:

June 1 - my grandma was taken to the hospital - she aspirated and suffered brain damage

June 4 - my grandma passed away

June 6 - cancel lessons at studio - go to work because I have to finish packing up my stuff

June 7 - take off work - take mom to dr appt for cancer check-up, visitation

June 8 - take off work - funeral

June 9 - take mom for chemo

WOAH!

That's my Granny and Papa. She was so beautiful! My Granny was a super special person - a fabulous seamstress (who tried to teach me to sew and crochet and failed miserably - I broke the sewing machine and ended up just rolling her yarn into balls because I could seem to do that without screwing it up too bad) and such a great cook. My best memories with her are those where we were in the kitchen. I credit her with my love for all things sweet and my love for coffee (I was probably 5 or younger when she gave me iced coffee as she and Papa drank theirs.)

I have so many precious memories with Granny and she will be missed terribly, but I know that she is so much better off. She suffered with Alzheimer's for years. It began with her forgetting little things, but eventually robbed her of her memories - even her memories of who people were. Even though my mom was faithful to visit her almost every day for the last several years at the nursing facility where she resided, my granny couldn't have told you that it was my mom - her daughter. Alzheimer's is such a cruel disease. While it's always sad to see someone that you love leave this world, if you know that they're going to heaven it should make you want to celebrate, shouldn't it?

I am not always the type to be super sad at funerals - some would say it's because I don't have a soul, but that's not true. In this case, I simply knew that Granny was better off (memory back, praising Jesus with my Papa and several other loved ones) and that I'm going to get to be there with her someday. I know it's not that simple for everyone, but it seemed to be that way for me - maybe in part because I had seen her suffer so much with a disease that robbed her of everything except her life. Don't get me wrong, I have shed tears, but I would much rather go bake some cookies and eat them in her honor (except I'm trying to not be so fat at my wedding)!

Every time I would leave my Granny's house I would say, "See ya later alligator." She would reply with, "after while crocodile." As she was taking her final breaths that Saturday, I leaned over and whispered in her ear, "See ya later alligator." I'm pretty sure I heard her say, "After while crocodile."