Stretching Out to Eternity...

This week, my Grandmother, Margaret Ann Strand, passed away. We were expecting it. We had about a week's notice that the infection she had was not improving and that there was little the doctors could do about it. She was ready to go. We were not ready for her to leave us. All her life she looked after other people. She was one of the oldest of several children so she no doubt spent much of her childhood helping to care for the younger children in the family. She married my Grandfather and they had 5 children, whom she raised into wonderful, strong willed, smart and educated adults. My grandfather had several bouts of cancer (lung and prostate) and she spent much of the end of his life caring for him as well as providing support for her 5 adult children and their families. After my grandfather passed away 9 years ago she became the one everyone looked after. It must be hard to shift to that position. We corresponded quite a bit. I love letter writing and she was always good to write back. We mostly wrote about what we were doing, but underneath the chit chat of everyday life and little adventures there was always the tone that she was so very proud of me. I always felt like one of her favorites, but I am pretty sure that everyone of my cousins and siblings felt the same thing. She was like that. Her love for us was unmeasurable and infinite. My middle name is her first. That is why I use the middle initial when I do theatre and writing work. It is in homage to her and always has been. She may be gone from this world, but she will always be with me. As I have in the past, I will continue to make decisions factoring in 'what would Grandma think?' I will miss her.