A year

I can't believe it has been a year since my grandmother passed away. I miss her terribly.

There are so many times when I wish I could pick up the phone and call her. I miss her voice and her laughter and advice. When I see Emily talking on the phone to her grandmother or making cookies with her I think about the hundreds of cookies we baked together and long phone calls we made with each other.

When my parents moved out of their house my mom found several little things that used to be mine to give to Emily. My grandmother had made my baby dolls their own pillow and a couple of quilts. There were a few dolly bibs and a little backpack she made. I'm not sure that Emily knows that my grandmother made them or realizes how time consuming it was to make them but she loves them as much as I did when I was a little girl using them almost daily.

My grandparents didn't have a lot of money. They lived simple lives on a small farm and worked hard for what they had. My whole life they never missed a birthday or Christmas without a card and/or gift...even as an adult. The gifts my grandmother gave me throughout my life are priceless. I know now how much time she had to spend making the things that she gave me and how much love was in everything she did. The doll clothes, blankets, and accessories. The Christmas ornaments she stitched by hand. The Christmas stocking I have hung every year. The Halloween costumes she made. The afghans, pot holders, and pin cushions she crocheted. The quilts I slept under every night. The aprons, knitted socks & hats, embroidered tea towels and pillow cases. The recipe box she filled with her own recipes that she wrote out. The cookies, cakes, candy, pies, jams, cinnamon rolls, and brownies that she made me. The prayers she prayed for me.

She was the only grandmother I ever knew. I couldn't have asked for more.