Hello and welcome to my blog! I am a wife and mom of two who is also a health coach amongst other roles. More often that not, my blog entries involve clean eating recipes, inspiration, workout program details, progress updates and things like that. Every once in a while I put together a blog entry which is more "journal" in nature. This is one of those.
This has been a big weekend of impending change. I have known for the past month that it was on the horizon. Easter at my Grandma's house has been a tradition for as long as I can remember. I will be celebrating my 37th birthday this week. When I was three years old my Grandparents were empty-nesters and they built the home where Grandma lives right now. I have always been very close to my Grandparents and when Grandpa passed away in December of 2011 it was one of the hardest times in my life. Although we live 2.5 hours drive from them, Grandpa actually spent his last six weeks at a specialty hospital less than 3 miles from my home here in Erie, PA. I spent part of each one of those days with him and the stories that I heard and times that we shared are forever written on my heart. So, back to present day. Grandma has been living on her own for the past 3+ years and she has been getting ready for a change. Her name has been on a waiting list for a very nice senior living apartment community. She learned last month that she was at the top of the list and this set in motion the wheels of change. I realized this evening that as much as I crave and even create change just for the sake of variety, I am also deeply sentimental and hold things close to my heart. Especially when they involve my favorite people!
I
have two younger sisters. Bethany is just 18 months younger than me
and her boys are ages 9 and 7. Rachel is 6 years younger than me. Her
oldest son is age 3, then a 2 year old daughter and an infant son. It
is exciting to see our family growing! Our parents are in their
early/mid-50's and this is a neat time in life. My Grandma is no doubt the
matriarch of our family! She is my dad's mom. My mom's parents passed
away in 1988 and 2004.
Grandma is particular and does things with excellence. She has kept her home and property in top-notch shape. Grandma is savvy and stubborn and knows her own mind. She has been relieved and excited about downsizing to an apartment. My youngest sister and I spent some time with Grandma yesterday, organizing some things at the new place and helping her to get situated with the belongings that are already in place there. Funny memory -- Grandma had packed her already very clean kitchen items and we were washing and drying them before putting them away in her new cupboards. My sister and I were cracking up because this seemed so tedious to my sister but made perfect sense to me. Grandma and I have always been alike with certain things. I do get my impatience, impertinence and bit of a temper from her. I will never forget one of the last things that my Grandpa said to me. He was a practical joker with a twinkle in his eye, much like my own husband. We were discussing differences in personality and he told me - "Net (his nickname for me), don't stomp. Please." As much as many others know me as being kind-natured and sweet, I have that determined streak which causes me to stomp around when I am irritated! My entire family is made up of strong women who will jump in and do the work to get things done and I love that! We just have to be careful when our partner is not yet on board with a project. :)
One of the projects that Grandma wanted to accomplish today was to get a lot of her things cleared out of the house! My aunt and uncle plus my cousin and her family are also with us for holidays at Grandma's house and today felt surreal in a way. I do have a bachelor uncle who has always lived out in CA. He comes for a visit each summer and Grandma was saying today that those annual summer picnics at her place with everyone together are some of her favorite memories of the house. Today we were each packing up the many items that Grandma had laid out for us. I was the recipient of Grandma's dishes. These are her everyday Pfaltzgraff Yorktowne ceramic-ware. Oh my goodness! I remember when she began this extensive collection and I have long admired them. I will put them in use here and will think daily of my Grandma. My daughter brought home a box of dollies that I used to play with as a little girl. Grandma handmade the majority of the dolls plus some dolly quilts, clothing and other accessories. My son has some other little treasures and some items from the garage. My husband is excited to be receiving Grandma's grill as we do not currently own a grill of our own!
Today was a very good day. Bittersweet for sure. There are so many moments to treasure. Plus today caused me to reflect back on 34 years of memories from that house. It is the people who make a place a home. We look forward to making new memories at Grandma's apartment. I am deeply thankful that she is able to make this change at just the right time when it is a very positive thing for her. She is a woman of grace, beauty and faithfulness. She has grit and a no-nonsense approach. I love that Grandma is hard-worker and has taught each of us girls to be the same. We are saying good-bye to many things while also opening our arms to welcome a whole new adventure!
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