A Woman I Will Remember

If there's a day I will always remember, it would be the day that my Grandmother, Nonna, passed away. And the funeral and days that we shared together.

It was sad that she passed away, but I think I will always be more sad over how I reacted. I didn't understand what was happening. When I first heard it, I cried. And then I went on watching Shrek 2. And on the day of the funeral, I just watched fail videos on YouTube all day (didn't have to go to the service, so I didn't). I was laughing while someone who loved me was dead.

Nonna always loved me. She would sometimes take me on these fun, long, and amazing afternoon trips to Target and to lunch. She would buy me little toys that I played with all of the time. And, one time, I remember that we were at Ted's Montana Grill, and it was raining. She sang to me the 'rain go away' song. She and I sang it and, sure enough, the rain went away. We were both happy that the rain was gone.

She loved me. She would hug me, kiss me, and always compliment me.

"You have such a beautiful nose!"

The weeks before she passed, she was so full of spirit, even if she was sick. She was saying things like "I feel stronger inside. I think I can beat this." She was always full of spirit, when she was with me and her family. Me and my sister had done a performance for the talent show. We showed her the video and she congratulated us and enjoyed the video. She was so happy.

I didn't understand that humans really did die. Sure, I knew that people died, but I didn't know about mourning until she passed, I didn't understand it. I thought that time was infinite for me and the people I loved.

I didn't think that I would miss it all. The shopping at Target for little toys. The little songs. The job I had of telling her that the light had changed to green and that she couldn't rest her eyes at that moment. I never thought it would end.

She knew it and I didn't. And she lived it all fully. She knew that an end was going to come and wanted to spend some of that remaining time with me.

She may think that she only taught me in life, but she taught me one last thing after she died. She taught me that life was too short and that I needed to smile with those I love all day, everyday. She taught me to live.

I love you, Nonna.   

Reviews

[jnl.behappy]

Goodness, this is so sad and sweet. I'm sorry about your Nonna but it is lovely of you to do something like this for her, and the impact she made.