Sorrow

This morning I was called by my mother with the sad news my grandmother had passed away in the early morning.

She was admitted to the hospital Monday afternoon with pneumonia and kidney failure. I absolutely did not feel good about this news. She was very fragile and was admitted to the hospital several times during the past few years. I wrote about her in a post in September and about her health and how my grandfather was coping.

Her passing is not a surprise, but still a very sad moment. As a kid I absolutely loved to visit my grandparents and I have such great memories.

One of these memories is the cookie pictured above. If I went for a sleepover during summer vacation my grandmother used to make an ice cookie like this. Two Maria biscuits with strawberry jam and a ball of vanilla ice cream in between.

In honour of her I made them today for Little Man and Little Lady. They loved it!

More memories popped up today.

 

My love of amber jewellery comes from my grandmother. She had a lovely necklace with a big amber stone with a fly in it. Such a fascinating sight, a little fly encapsuled by amber. I adored that necklace, always admired it and to me it really represents my grandmother.

 

My fascination with herbs and herbal medicine, and I dare say, my spiritual wanderings are also influenced by my grandmother I think. My grandparents have an enormous amount of books and I read several during my stays there. The middle book is one I once borrowed from my grandmother and a few years back I bought it myself.

 

This is a necklace I first bought for myself, but went back to buy one for my grandmother. She just loves necklaces and since my grandfather collects shells I just had to give one as a present. It now has a deeper meaning.

All the fun things we did when I was for a sleepover, the trips to the zoo, walking the dog, visiting Muiderslot and several other sites, they were great. I think as a kid grandparents are just awesome. When I got older I talked about other things with my grandparents and I will treasure lots of advice and great talks.

My grandmother also loved to play silly games. She would make a turtle with a hand and do pretend games with it. Absolute fun.

And my grandmother could make hand farts. I really need to learn how to do it. Here is a funny (death is about grief but good memories should be filled with laugther!) video.

This is how I want to remember her. She was in feeble health the last few years, and getting more forgetfull and deaf each time. The last two years she spent in the couch near the window looking at the birds passing by and enjoying my grandparents garden (which is full of life).

I am so sorry that she is gone. And I am concerned about my grandfather. Time will tell what will happen to him because he gave up his time and health to take care of her.

Not a good start of the year, but I thought I had to share what a great woman she was...