If we have much or little,
its been wisely said that we don't
own a thing but our names.
Everything else is on loan,
and there is only today.
--So pick from this day, at nightfall,
every joyful story,
every beautiful face,
every crumb of understanding,
--roll them up and climb into bed
and rejoice!
~Harriet Beckwith
(my grandmother)
We had Thanksgiving dinner today with our friends Amy & Carla & their kids. It wasn't much different from any other night we eat dinner together - delicious food, good friends, a place to feel comfortable. We didn't even talk about what we were thankful for, or say grace or anything. (Not that any of us subscribe to an organized religion. At least, not that I know of)
BUT I'm not criticizing, please please don't take it that way. It was delightful. I don't know exactly what it is that makes me so happy when our families are together. Everything seems to work - we can take over from one another in almost any situation. I've never had friends like them. I am so so thankful that they are part of my life; of my family's life.
And boy, am I thankful for that dinner - I won't need to eat until the real Thanksgiving now!
Isn't it funny though - today my dad emailed me the snippet from my grandmother. He's been going through his notebooks (he writes every day and has for YEARS) and he found that in a note from her. She was a wonderful woman, and I'm glad I got to know her so well. I miss her every day. She died 11 years ago next week. I still have dreams that I'm at her house, and she's just in the next room. I try and try to find her; to introduce her to the kids; to give her a hug, but I always just miss her. I can smell her in my dreams though - Paloma Picasso perfume, a little baby powder. I think of her when I comb my daughter's hair - it's the same fine, soft stuff. I hear her when I cook, when I have a cup of tea, when I'm getting a little manic trying to do everything all at once. She was a great one for living in the moment, but learning from the past.
Wow, 11 years - that is a lifetime ago. (My son's lifetime, at any rate!) She was one of my best teachers; one of my best friends. That's what I'm going to roll up tonight. Time to climb into bed...
~Harriet Beckwith
(my grandmother)
We had Thanksgiving dinner today with our friends Amy & Carla & their kids. It wasn't much different from any other night we eat dinner together - delicious food, good friends, a place to feel comfortable. We didn't even talk about what we were thankful for, or say grace or anything. (Not that any of us subscribe to an organized religion. At least, not that I know of)
BUT I'm not criticizing, please please don't take it that way. It was delightful. I don't know exactly what it is that makes me so happy when our families are together. Everything seems to work - we can take over from one another in almost any situation. I've never had friends like them. I am so so thankful that they are part of my life; of my family's life.
And boy, am I thankful for that dinner - I won't need to eat until the real Thanksgiving now!
Isn't it funny though - today my dad emailed me the snippet from my grandmother. He's been going through his notebooks (he writes every day and has for YEARS) and he found that in a note from her. She was a wonderful woman, and I'm glad I got to know her so well. I miss her every day. She died 11 years ago next week. I still have dreams that I'm at her house, and she's just in the next room. I try and try to find her; to introduce her to the kids; to give her a hug, but I always just miss her. I can smell her in my dreams though - Paloma Picasso perfume, a little baby powder. I think of her when I comb my daughter's hair - it's the same fine, soft stuff. I hear her when I cook, when I have a cup of tea, when I'm getting a little manic trying to do everything all at once. She was a great one for living in the moment, but learning from the past.
Wow, 11 years - that is a lifetime ago. (My son's lifetime, at any rate!) She was one of my best teachers; one of my best friends. That's what I'm going to roll up tonight. Time to climb into bed...
4 comments:
Wow, how lucky you are to have had her in your life.
I'm noticing that now, in my 40s, I've been searching for replacement grandparents -- I was never close to the ones who were alive in my lifetime. I've attached myself to a couple of older folk, and although it'll never be the relationship you talk about, it feels good.
I miss having grandparents in my life on a regular basis. I keep thinking of doing Meals on Wheels or something similar in order to meet some. (They should have Adoption Centers for Grandparents.)
That's one thing that's nice about Zoe - the breadth of experience shared.
~Lysne
I'm so glad you had such a wonderful grandmother, and I hope that someday, in your dreams, she meets your children.
(I don't mean that in a creepy way! but in a good way!)
Thank you for sharing the poem.
I can't believe that she has been gone 11 years! It seems like yesterday that we had a da Vinci family picnic with Rob's ribs at her house. I have such memories of Lysneland in the old building, and of road trips up north, and of students oddities, and sharing, and crying, and first hearing that you were pregnant with Liam..... oh the days go, without us knowing to clutch them tight since they don't come back!!
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