Life Lessons From Grandma Pauline

Today is a somber day for me and my family.  It has been 2 years since the passing of my sweet Grandma Pauline.  I have found myself thinking a whole lot about my Grandma Pauline lately and all the amazing lessons I learned from her.  I want to make sure that I don't ever forget some of the things she taught me, so I think I will write some of them down.  Though it has been over 2 years since I saw her last, not a day goes by that I don't think of her.  Unfortunately, time also has a way of making us forget...forget the way someone smelled, forget the things they used to say, forget to thank God for the time we had with someone.  This is just my small attempt to try to hold on desperately to those memories...

This was the last time I saw my Grandma Pauline.  I was pregnant with Jillian and hoped she would one day meet my daughter.  Though Jillian never met Grandma Pauline in person, I know that my Grandma Pauline met Jillian in Heaven, when Grandma was on her way in and Jillian was on her way out of Heaven to join us in this life.

My Grandma Pauline wasn't actually my "Grandma."  She was my mom's Grandma, technically my Great-Grandma.  We never called her that though.  To all of us, she was Grandma Pauline.  She was born in 1911 and lived to be 99 years old. 99...can you even fathom that?!  99 years on God's earth, living through the best of times and the worst of times and everything in between. 

The more I talk to people, the more I realize how blessed our family was to have our matriarch for that long.  Everyone has their story about their grandparents and how old they lived to be.  And unfortunately, some have stories of how they lost them, in essence, before they passed away.  It makes my heart really happy to know that my family was blessed with Grandma Pauline, who was there with us till her dying day in body and in mind and in spirit.  I remember a younger, more agile Granny, so full of life, even though she seemed ancient when I was little.  But the older I got, the more I remember her slowing down.   Even still in her old age, she was very lucid and had the best memory.  She had a bunch of pictures of family members in her home and every time I went to see her, I could ask her about any one of those photos.  She could tell you who was in the picture, when it was taken, and their whole life story, including stories of when so-and-so was little, what a character he/she was, and where they were now that they were all grown up, and who they married, and who their kids were...  Or you could ask her stories of her own life and her own past, and she could recall things from waaaaaaaaaay back.  She still lived in her own home and for the most part, still took care of herself.  Everyday, she would wake up and make herself all her meals, and clean her house, and hang her laundry on the clothesline.  She really was a rarity...a gem...for all that she was able to do at her age.

Grandma Pauline in her room.   I miss this sight more than words can ever express.

These are probably the biggest lesson of all that I learned from my Grandma Pauline...to live each day to the fullest.  To take care of myself so that I can one day live to be 99, too.  To keep my mind sharp and my body moving.  She lived through more than 8 generations of our family, remembering stories or tidbits about her great grandparents, her grandparents, her parents, her and her siblings, her kids, her grandkids, her great-grandkids, and her great-grandkids' kids too!  She lived...I mean really lived...for a long time.  99 years, 2 months, and 3 weeks to be exact. 

I believe that everyone has a "Grandma Pauline"...that grandparent (or two, or three, or four) that truly made a lasting imprint on your life.  For all the little lessons they passed down, by word of mouth, or by writing it down, or by simply living their life to the fullest, be sure to take the time to tuck that memory away and keep it in a safe place because time will continue on and will slowly make that memory fade. 

I miss you sweet Granny!  I know you will be with me always!

Me and my Grandma Pauline, circa 1986