Grandma

   My grandma has been gone a while now and I can still hear her voice and see her smile clear as day. She was my mom's mom and she lived in a small village by a lake. She had grown up on a farm in the prairies with no running water or electricity and went to barn dances in a sleigh drawn by a horse. She didn't talk about this much but late in life when she lost a lot of her eye sight she wrote books of poetry and talked about this. I read these poems to my children often. At her funeral my uncle set out flowers and my aunties set out her quilts, and these are just a few of them that were hung all over the walls of the large hall that we gathered at. She was such an artist and she used her winters to make quilts. They  are so beautiful to me and I treasure the ones I have. She loved her flower gardens and canning and she grew food as well. She sewed her grandaughters dresses and she sewed some of her own clothes. She was an amazing cook and her food tasted like home. She made Christmas decorations and pillows and delighted in hiking and reading and music. She supported my grandpa in his unique and obessive interests and worked hard all her life. She loved me a lot and some of my most comforting and happy memories are with her. I am so grateful for my grandma and there are so many days still where I long to be able to go over to her house, knock on her door, wait for a long while for someone to answer, and then be welcomed in. I am a grandmother myself now and I hope and pray I can offer the same care, creativity, and support that my grandmother offered to me.