My Grandfather

I got news that my grandfather passed away this weekend. Most of you who are close to me might not even know that I had a grandfather who is living. I talk a lot about my grandmother but not about my grandfather (they got divorced before I was born). The truth is, I didn't really know grampy that well. I usually just saw him once a year at Christmas time. I never really understood this since he only live two or three miles from my parents. That's just the way it has always been and I've never really questioned it- not out loud, anyway. The last time I saw him was at Christmas time. He talked more on that day than I had ever heard him talk in 32 years. Maybe he knew his time on earth was coming to an end and was making one last attempt to reach out to all of us. This is what I found out that day- Grampy was a World War II Veteran. He got a Purple Heart because he was shot in the leg during the war. He told us about all the places he had been during the war. He and my grandmother got divorced when my mom was in high school. He went on to marry Isabelle. Isabelle was a nice woman who died last November. Mom and her brothers and sisters were with grampy when he died. In the end, he only wanted to be with Isabelle. As he was dying, he reached his hands up in the air, like he was reaching for her. I hope they are together now. Writing this blog is hard because I have always resented my grandfather for not being a part of me and J's life. I never understood why he didn't want to be. I'm sure he had his reasons. I'm sure there is a lot I don't know. I am grateful to him because without him, there would be no me. I just hope he is at peace now.

Happy Birthday Baby (and Happy Birthday to me too)

Today is me and Bill's Birthday. One of the many odd coincidences we discovered when we started dating is that we share a birthday (although Bill is, and will always be, two years older). Today was also my grandfather's birthday. I never met my grandfather but he has always been a part of me so I would like to wish him a happy birthday in heaven as well. So Happy Birthday Baby! I hope we have many more happy birthdays together. A picture of us on our birthday last year is above.

Graduations

I had the honor of seeing two people I think the world of graduate this week. The first graduation was my sister-in-law Hillary's graduation from Dunmore High School. I met Hillary four months after Bill and I first started dating at the end of her eighth grade year in 2004. When I met her, she was a sweet teenager who immediately welcomed me as a member of the family. Over the past four years I have watched that sweet teenager grow into a caring and smart young woman. Hillary has been through more crap than a teenager should have to go through and I am so proud of her for graduating and going on to Penn College in the fall. Congrats Hillary, and as you move on to college remember ...you're Dunmore, it's what you do :) While I was in Dunmore for the graduation, I also got to spend some quality time with my nephews Josh and Jeremy when I took them to see Kung Fu Panda. Taking them to the movie was part altruistic (The boys wanted to see the movie and Mary did not want to see the movie) and part selfish (I wanted to see the movie). However, it was the first time I got to spend quality time with just me and my new nephews and it was really special to me. I also got to see my three month old niece Alanah. She is adorable! I know I'm biased but she is so smart already. Seeing her really got my biological clock ticking but before Bill and I have any babies, we have to have jobs where we can afford to take care of ourselves. Oh yeah, and then there's the small matter of convincing my loving husband that having a baby wouldn't be the worst thing since Nazi Germany. But that is a different blog for a different day...

The second graduation I went to was at Key Center, the school I taught at for four years. I went back to Virginia and Key because when I left four years ago, I said that no matter where I was I would come back to see my student Catherine graduate. Catherine is one of those once-in-a-lifetime students. When she was assigned to my classroom in the fall of 2000 she was 14 years old (same age Hillary was when I met her). Catherine was very shy and barely said two words the first half of that school year. Sometime after Christmas break that year, Catherine started talking up a storm. Now you can't stop her from talking! Her parents gave me a lot of credit after the graduation for Catherine becoming the social 22 year old she is now but I don't really think it was anything I did. I think she was just ready and it happened to be that she was ready when I was teaching her. I had Catherine in my classroom for all four years that I was at Key Center and it was a privilege to be her teacher. Congratulations Catherine! I know the people at your worksite will love having you as a worker as much as I loved having you as a student.

Here are some pictures of the two graduations and my cutie niece:



Hillary



Me, Jimmy, and the graduate



Bill, Me, and Baby Alanah



Catherine

My Aunt Terry

I'd like to take a minute to remember my Aunt Terry who passed away on Monday. Unfortunately, I did not know Aunt Terry as well as I should have. She was the wife of my father's oldest brother who died the year I was born. Despite the death of her husband, Aunt Terry and her brother Buddy were regular fixtures at Grant family gatherings. I was happy I got to see her one last time at my bridal shower last June. Her failing health made it impossible for her to attend the wedding so it was great to have her there. I read her obitury today and found out that she was a talented singer when she was young. Its amazing what you find out about people after they're gone. The picture above is all the Grant woman at my bridal shower. Aunt Terry is the one on the right in white.