My dad's parents died when my dad was just 5 years old, so my only grandma was my mom's mom....and she was something else!
She crocheted beautiful afghans, and gave them as gifts to so many people without a second thought. She also crocheted lap robes for people in nursing homes decades younger than she.
She always had a giant bottle of Jean Nate on the edge of her tub. One time when I was about five years old, my sisters were teasing me that I had stinky feet. Grandma took me by the hand, and said, "You come with grandma". She had me sit on the edge of the tub, and soak my feet in some warm water with Jean Nate swirled in. After several minutes, she took my feet into her lap, dried them with a big fluffly towel, and put lotion and powder on them for me, and helped me into clean knee socks. I felt so loved; she stopped what she had been doing, and gave all of her attention to me for those precious ten minutes.
She was strong and independent. She was widowed in the 1940's, left with two young children. She worked full time and was a single parent until she remarried in 1958, when my mom was in college. She owned her own home, shoveled her own snow, cleaned her own house and cut her own grass until six weeks before she died. She took fly fishing lessons when she was 84 years old, and loved donning her hip waders, wandering into streams and catching trout. She bought a computer when she was 91 years old, learned how to use it, and surfed the web daily. She took great delight in "talking" with grandchildren and great-grandchildren with her webcam!
She showed me trust when she taught me how to paint one summer. She and my grandpa turned their attached garage into a summer room, complete with a screen across the large opening for the car. I was about 10 years old; she taught me how to use masking tape to make a clean line, how to roll on the paint for full coverage, using a small brush for tight spots, and never once cautioned me about drips or spills. I felt so grown up to be painting something "real".
She taught me about compassion and unconditional love when she nursed and took care of my grandpa (not my blood grandpa, but he was the only grandpa I ever knew) for two years after he had a severe stroke in the mid 1980's, until he died in 1986. She did it because she wanted to, not because of an obligation or having to.
She taught me sentimentality, passing along family heirlooms to me and my sisters, always telling us a story about the piece she was giving us. I have a large silver sterling serving spoon that my great grandparents received as a wedding gift. Grandma said when she was a young girl in about 1918, a cousin fit the entire spoon into his mouth on a dare from another cousin, then cut the sides of his mouth with it when it was pulled out.
She taught me about integrity and to think of others before myself. Last fall when she was in the hospital and seriously ill, we had a family meeting with home hospice, a social worker, her doctor and about 10 family members at her bedside. Up until the meeting started, Grandma kept asking, "Does everyone have a chair? Is everyone comfortable?" When the decision was made to take her home with hospice care, and that one of my sisters (who's a home hospice nurse) would be her primary care giver, Grandma polled each family member to make sure we were comfortable with that.
Grandma got home about noon on Monday, October 13 2008. She was lucid, knew she was home, and had my sister turn on Rachel Ray's cooking show (grandma was a fabulous cook, and loved what a "spitfire" Rachel Ray is!). She started dozing more the following day, and died just before midnight on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at the age of 95. I was so lucky to have her for so long, and to have a very close relationship with her. I miss her more than I can say.
I have no idea where that came from, but man I miss her. 
She passed away unexpectedly when I was in 8th grade, I'm 25 now.
I miss my grandma.I am just glad that our DD's still have thier grandmas and grandpas to make memories.
