Grandma Dee

today has been a tough day. after over 4 months of trying to recover after breaking her leg in mexico, my grandma dee passed away last night. she was transferred to tucson arizona as we were moving here from sc early last month and almost 2 weeks ago was transferred to orlando where her brother and wife could help take care of her, but by that point she'd become too malnourished, gotten too many infections and had been bedridden too long.

it's been really difficult. i'd been trying to make plans to fly down to see her, but the flights were very expensive. my parents spent a week with her in tucson a few weeks ago, and mom had planned to fly to orlando next week to be with her mom, but when grandma took a turn for the worse again this wednesday, mom changed her flight to very early this morning. but grandma passed away in the middle of the night.

grandma dee has had a wonderful, yet very difficult 78 years. she was married as a teen and lost two infant sons to sids. her husband passed away of a massive heart attack while she was in her 30's. after a short marriage that ended in divorce, she married my grandpa max when i was a toddler. he died from cancer when tim was a baby but i enjoyed my entire childhood with memories of them together. just 2 weeks ago, my step grandpa john (grandma's 4th husband) died in tucson after fighting cancer and not recovering from his second back surgery in the past few months.

today has been spent remembering times with grandma, crying, praying, and eating chocolate.

i have many wonderful memories of my grandma. watching her wrestle on the floor with tim and michael when they were little. her southern accent. hanging out at the restaurant she and grandpa owned for a while. her big red bouffant hair. seeing her hand out hundreds of icees to all the neighborhood kids (i think they went through thousands each summer). grandma washing my hair in the kitchen sink after i broke my collarbone on a trip to visit in illinois. hearing santa outside over their pool when i was 3 or 4. a family vacation to mexico to visit them when i was in high school. driving around mn with mom & grandma to see and hear stories about all the homes grandma had lived in throughout her life then going out for lunch afterward where grandma & mom were asked if they were sisters (mom didn't like that too much). riding in her 1969 red cadillac convertible. her green thumb. when i was little and she'd gently caress my face with her long fingernails until i'd fall asleep. taking 4 generation pictures almost every time we were all together, then 5 generation pictures once tim and michael were born until my great-grandma passed away a few years ago. playing cards and dominoes. watching her fold dollar bills into various creations to leave for tips. my middle name being after her and my great-grandma (DeeAnn). grandma trying to kiss kraig on the lips the first time she met him.

after just losing my grandpa (my dad's dad) in november, moving across the country and choosing to be a stay at home mom again for a while, being at a new church, and now losing my grandma (as well as my step grandpa a couple of weeks ago), it's been a winter with many changes. but as my grandma wrote to me several years ago in a book of her memories, "In God We Trust".