rest in peace, dear Gram

I'm not going to do her or her life justice but I would be remiss not to dedicate a post to my grandma as I get ready to fly up to Moline for her funeral tomorrow. If she was still alive she'd be the first to read this post and then respond via email like she never failed to do every time I blogged. As mentioned in my last post, she suffered a stroke down in New Mexico while visiting my parents a few weeks ago. She's had strokes before but this one was severe and combined with complications from flu and pneumonia she rapidly declined and sadly passed away last week. Despite knowing she wasn't doing well in the weeks leading up to her death, it still felt sudden as she was here less than a month ago making the kids laugh with her riddles and talking about if she had more time in Florida she'd help me refinish our kitchen table. Mentally, she was still sharp as a tack and while I'm grateful she suffered very little, it's hard to believe she's gone.

She left us with loads of wonderful memories and I can't help but do a bit of written reflection looking back on the full life our consummate matriarch led. While I was only around for a fraction of it, her zest for life and fierce loyalty to her family left a lasting impression on everyone she knew and loved. For as long as I can remember she organized a family reunion every summer for anyone that could come. Those summer time visits in the Quad Cities were something my siblings and I looked forward to all year long.

She took her daughters and grandkids on trips galore and loved having visitors. For as rough as the residency years were for us, we were so grateful to be driving distance from her (and Simon's grandpa until he moved!) and the kids loved going to see GG. Gram was the quintessential hostess and set the bar high on that front for future me. No detail was ever forgotten and if we were ever in town near a birthday or holiday she made sure that it was celebrated in proper style. I'm forever grateful that our kids got to see experience the reunions firsthand and the older kids will most certainly remember her in her summertime glory.

Some of Simon and my first memories as a couple were spent in the Quad Cities with his grandpa and my grandma.

We'll forever cherish those special trips and reminisce about them often.

We love and miss you so much, dear Gram. The kids have so many fond memories with you and we feel lucky to have gotten so much quality time with you.