How My Grandmother’s Spirit Is With Me on Her 99th Birthday

My grandmother would have turned 99 today!! She was the most wonderful woman, full of love, life, heart and kindness. She was only 80 when she died and I often wonder what she’d be up to now if she were still alive. Would she still have her vivacious energy? Would she still love to eat Skittles at the movies?

Those are the sorts of things I miss about my grandma — the little things, those personality traits that made her, well, her. Those were the things that made her such an individual and I miss her every day. I miss all the family stories she told. I miss our games of Scrabble and Monopoly, which she and I always played while my mom, sister and dad went down to the beach or to the movies. I miss hearing her say “Goodnight, Sweetheart” every night before bed. I miss her smile and her laugh and her warm hugs.

In her later years, she discovered her talent for painting and she’d spend afternoons upon afternoons sitting in front of an easel, her brushstrokes bringing colorful paintings to life. I sometimes wonder what went through her mind as she was deep in creative mode.

Maybe she thought about her life and her family or maybe she thought about what painting she was going to paint next. Although, knowing how laid-back and chill my grandmother was, she probably remained in the moment and just relaxed — isn’t that a lesson for us all?

Today, her beautiful art hangs on our walls; in fact, she painted so often that each of her children have some of her work in their house. And it all sort of hit me this morning as I was thinking about her and her birthday: These paintings are a constant and comforting reminder that she’s still with us. Her spirit in alive in full color in each of her masterpieces and we’re so lucky to be able to feel her presence around us.

Every time we walked past one of her paintings, she’s with us. Each time we look at them, we’re reminded of her and the memories come flooding back.

Those memories mean so much to me, especially in the last 18 years since her death. She was one incredible lady who brought color and joy to the world — one memory and brushstroke at a time!! xoxo