A Bittersweet Farewell
Last week I returned from my hometown in Ohio where I got to celebrate the life of a remarkable woman, one who has influenced me more than almost anyone else. My marvelous, sweet and sassy 93-year-old Grandma Sally passed from this earth on October 1st of this year. I will miss her dearly. She was a delight, a woman who lived fully and well in her 93 years.
She taught me so much- how to grow roses and find morel mushrooms in the secret pockets of Ohio woods, how to make her famous sugar pie and caramel pecan rolls, how to care for my skin, sew a straight seam (that lesson didn’t stick), and most of all how to enjoy life! She was a Rosie the Riveter in WWII, a clog dancer, an avid watercolorist, a reader, gardener and cookie maker and eater. She ate 2 cookies for breakfast with her morning coffee for as long as I can remember. Her motto was “if it doesn’t have cream or sugar it’s not worth eating.”
She loved and cared for the earth and for animals. She hated losing at any game. She faithfully took care of my Grandpa Perry through his 14 year battle with Alzheimer’s Disease, then unexpectedly found love again at the age of 79 with a dear widowed friend she’d known since high school.
After their whirlwind courtship and wedding, Grandma Sally and her new love Dale traveled the world together, seeing the Taj Mahal at sunrise and penguins in Antarctica. They treasured every day of their 14 year “honeymoon” as they called their marriage. Their love story was the inspiration for Nana Alice’s late in life love story in my latest novel, The Enlightenment of Bees. She was proof that it’s never too late for love.
Grandma Sally adored me, and I adored her right back. She was a precious influence in my life, bringing love, laughter and sparkle to any place she graced. I’m so grateful for her presence in my growing up years and for the legacy she leaves behind in the hearts of those who knew her. I miss you, Grandma Sally. I’d say rest in peace, but you never could sit still for long. I know you’re dancing for joy in heaven right now!
