As a little girl, I loved my grandmother to the moon and back. I think the reason I loved her so much was because she was crazy in love with her grandchildren, and it showed. Grandmother had always wanted a daughter, but she had two sons. So, when her first four grandchildren were girls, she was in heaven. She bought us beautiful dresses and toys, and always had a big hug ready for us. She would sit me on her lap and read to me while I twirled the fringe of her shawl around my little fingers, but she never scolded me. When I started school, she made it her mission to make sure I also attended Sunday School, often driving 30 minutes each way to pick me up to take me to church. I figured if Grandmother thought church was that important, I had better pay attention while I was there.

I ended up moving around a lot when I grew up, and my grandmother really missed me. She wrote me a letter every week, and I wish I had kept them all. I only have a handful of her letters, and toward the end of her life, her handwriting had gone from flowing and spidery to a shaky scrawl. When she reached her late sixties, she told me she was always nervous. I think it’s because Grandpa had a short fuse and would sometimes yell at her. I wished I could have been there to hug her and help her and remind her how wonderful I thought she was. As it was, I was living in California and couldn’t afford to fly out to see her one more time before she passed away. I hope she forgave me for that.

I was blessed beyond measure to have my grandmother. Her love meant so much to me, and helped shape me into the person I am. I loved her so very much.

Your three words today are:
SHOW
SHAWL
SCRAWL

Three Things Challenge #MM72