93 Good Years

There is no recipe in this post.

I hope you'll read it anyway.

On Wednesday of last week, my sweet grandmother of 93 years went to be with Jesus.  Her name was Ethel, and she was a gem of a woman.  She was so much of what all of us women long to be.. she had a giant heart and room for everyone inside it.  No one within a hundred mile radius of Gram was left unloved.

 Gram and I, July 2009

My gram lived so much life, it's hard to know where to start when you talk about her.  She grew up in a small town outside of Pittsburgh.  She was born here in America, but her parents were both born in (what was then) Czechoslovakia.  She was a great cook and I have so many memories of her Slovak cuisine.  She was also world famous (at least in our world) for her waffle cookies (similar to pizzelles).  I loved watching her in the kitchen and remember telling her as a kid that I wanted to be a chef someday.

a young shot of Gram (maybe high school)

She was a natural beauty and a very classy gal.  She believed in always looking your best, and was pretty particular about her hair and makeup.  I loved going through all of her jewelry as a young girl and misting myself with her Chanel No. 5.

 Gram as a girl/ stealing a sweet moment with my grandpa on their wedding day

She was also known for her skills on the piano.  As a girl, she performed in traveling music shows with my great uncle.  She had a full music scholarship to college and probably played for almost 90 years of her life.  You could tell by her long, weathered fingers that she was a piano player.  My favorite memories of her playing are at Christmastime- she loved getting all of us around the piano for our family singalong.  It brought her such joy to have us all together.

Gram with my cousin Cait, early 90's

My gram was full of sweetness, but she was also one tough cookie.  I don't know how she managed to raise five boys (wild and crazy boys, from all the stories I've heard).  She took so much pride in her role as a mom, loved being a grandma and was always keeping up to date on all of our lives. That's five sons and their wives, eight grandchildren and their families, including four great grandchildren, plus all of her friends and ours.. but she was sharp as a tack and could remember it all.  She could talk about anything- never lost a bit of her memory over all those years.

Her death was a peaceful one; she couldn't have planned it better herself.  She was surrounded by her sons and her sisters and simply breathed her last.  She fought back through a lot of illness over the years, but this time she was ready and willing to go.

Grammy, our hearts are full of so much love for you.  We can never repay you for all of the sacrifices you made for us and the love and wisdom you poured into our lives.  We are so pleased to have had you for as long as we did- how lucky we are!  We're rejoicing now that you're in Heaven with Jesus,  and reuniting with Poppy and Richie and Joe.  I can't wait to see you again some day!