At Peace...

When my first 2 children were very small, it was a common occurrence to discover surprise care packages on our front stoop. I'll always remember opening those tightly bound Cub Foods' bags and finding any type of assorted household goods, left with love by Patrick's Grandma Pauline. Table wax and Windex, paper napkins and toilet paper, cereal and hot dog buns; I never knew what to expect. I didn't realize  back then just how blessed we were. Do you realize that I didn't purchase a single package of toilet paper for the first 7 years of our marriage? That even after 2 moves and 2 years away from her packages, we were still transporting perfectly good t.p.? In fact, even though she wasn't capable of driving or shopping for the last 5 years of her life, I am still able to say that I am in possession of SEVERAL different types of household cleansers (though some people may attribute this abundance to my lackluster cleaning abilities, I am here to say that even an OCD suffering from extreme germaphobia would have had a hard time making a dent in the  stockpile she provided us with).

Some people are known for telling you they love you, every time you see them. That is sweet and wonderful and something I greatly appreciate (and try to do, myself). Others, like Grandma Pauline, didn't always have the words to tell us how they felt. Instead, she showered us with love through her care packages and cookies; through the questions about our lives; through the biscuits she saved for her grandson in her purse from an All You Can Eat buffet; through the 3 cookies in a ziploc baggie for her great-grandchildren...

If one required additional proof of how much she loved her family, one would need look no further than to note the ways in which she was cared for by her 3 daughters. Aren't we all hoping that the love and care that we provide throughout our lives will be reciprocated in our own final years? She must have shown great love throughout her life, for her children provided their mother with abundant care and devoted attention, especially in her final years.

Grandma Pauline was not very mobile in the last years of her life. Age has a way of stripping away those things that make Life most worth living. And though adventures were no longer to be found in far away places, she rarely missed a birthday, holiday, picnic or bbq, and was included in all of the adventures that living close to family provided. Her daughters (and grandson, son-in-law and many more loved ones) made sure that she was still experiencing Life, and not just existing through it.

My children are privileged to be able to say that they knew their great-grandmother so well, and so regularly. It is a gift that my mother-in-law and her sisters provided to us all and I will be forever grateful to them.

 We will miss her dearly...