Here's To Grandma

Its almost a year to the date that my grandmother passed away. And today, I received the most lovely reminder of her in the mail.
My grandmother loved “Things”. If more than two of them had ever been created, she probably collected them. If it had a great back story, all the better. Although she was so much more than the Things she collected, she certainly loved all her treasures. In the years preceding her death, she slowly started to give her Things away. She was a firm believer in being able to see people enjoy the Things that she loved. She didn’t think you should have to wait for her to die to enjoy them, either. So it wasn’t unusual to receive a gold wrapped package at your birthday or Christmas, and open it to find something you had once admired aloud on her shelf. (side note: my grandmother bought bulk gold gift wrap sometime around, I’d guess, 1979, and proceeded to wrap gifts in it for about the next two decades. She joked to me once her casket would probably be wrapped in that paper. But true to form, she outlived the gold wrap. When the priest who did her funeral asked for favorite memories of her to tell at the service I mentioned this. I don’t think everyone there found it as endearing as I did. Besides, he butchered the delivery.) But at the same time, there were certainly Things she wasn’t willing to part with either. Certainly among this group of Things were her collection of antique goblets. This is how today I came to be probably the only 28 year old you know, with a complete set of cordials. They arrived in the mail this afternoon. They were lovingly hand packed by my grandmothers daughter, another person who cherishes things that were cherished by others. They are all hand numbered, in my Grandmothers handwriting. I can’t imagine ever taking those labels off. I love that I will always be surrounded by the Things she loved. Here’s to you Grandma!