A 100th birthday and final farewell
Last Friday, Ryan, Maddie and I went up to my parents' to celebrate my grandmother's 100th birthday on February 17th. We were well aware that her health was failing but little did we know how extremely fortunate our timed visit really was, for the next evening, as soon as we blew out the candles on her cake and sang her Happy Birthday and got on the road back to Columbus, she passed away.
I got the call from my mom, who was sobbing, an hour after we arrived home just as I was about to fall asleep. Yes, she lived a long, full life...But we still mourn her absence. She was such a fixture in our family; I don't mean extended family, OUR family--my parents, younger brother and myself. She lived with us practically my whole life. She was there for all my recitals and concerts, graduations, my wedding; she held Madeline, her first and only great-grandaughter.
I am back in Canton for the wake later today. I came back with Maddie on Tuesday to help my dad with decisions on flowers and to just be with them. And tomorrow, we'll be packing up the van and driving my grandmother's casket to CT where she'll be buried next to my grandfather. He died in 1982 a month before I was born. I'll be seeing a lot of family I haven't seen in a long time or for the first time ever. It will be strange to take this trip and not have the matriarch of the family be there among us.
RIP Ngin. I'm going to miss you so much.
I got the call from my mom, who was sobbing, an hour after we arrived home just as I was about to fall asleep. Yes, she lived a long, full life...But we still mourn her absence. She was such a fixture in our family; I don't mean extended family, OUR family--my parents, younger brother and myself. She lived with us practically my whole life. She was there for all my recitals and concerts, graduations, my wedding; she held Madeline, her first and only great-grandaughter.
I am back in Canton for the wake later today. I came back with Maddie on Tuesday to help my dad with decisions on flowers and to just be with them. And tomorrow, we'll be packing up the van and driving my grandmother's casket to CT where she'll be buried next to my grandfather. He died in 1982 a month before I was born. I'll be seeing a lot of family I haven't seen in a long time or for the first time ever. It will be strange to take this trip and not have the matriarch of the family be there among us.
RIP Ngin. I'm going to miss you so much.
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