In Memory of Gramma Neil

 

While sitting on the bleachers at Alex’s baseball game tonight I got word that my Gramma Neil had passed on.

I last saw Gramma in March 2020. She had recently moved into an assisted living facility. We walked around and she greeted *by name* every single person we passed. She told me their stories and it was shocking how much she knew about people. She listened and remembered them because she cared. This is the same way she loved me.

While growing up we would regularly go to Papa and Gramma’s house in Phoenix and I would pack a bag so when I asked my parents if I could sleep over I was prepared and a lack of toothbrush could not be used as an excuse! I am so glad I grew up close (in more ways than one) with her.

I started calling her regularly toward the end of 2020 and she was as witty and kind as ever, although if I called her too late in the day she would chastise me and say I needed to call before she took her teeth out. At the end of one call she said, “Don’t repeat anything I said! I’m an old lady! I’ll haunt you if you tell anyone!” I laughed and laughed; she’s crazy and she would do it.

(The following part is an excerpt of a letter I wrote her in 2016 when she and Papa celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.)

Gramma, thank you for taking me to the salon so I could watch you get your hair and nails done. Thank you for letting me make lists and go Christmas shopping for the whole family and meticulously keep track of how much you had spent on someone so we would know who else needed another gift so it would all be fair. Then thank you for teaching me how to wrap those gifts. Thank you for letting me have sleepovers at your house. Thank you for always having ginger ale in the fridge and cookies in a tin under the cabinet. Thank you for having a pantry with such a distinct smell that, when I smell it now, I am immediately taken back to reaching way up to the top for the cups that had all of our names written on them in permanent marker. Thank you for being a food pusher, because now I can claim it is genetic! Thank you for your generosity. Thank you for letting me be your favorite grandchild, although that can be our little secret. Thank you for your regular check-ins. Thank you for rearing my Dad into a great man. Thank you for spoiling me in a perfect Gramma way. I love you so much.