The third was my grandmother’s birthday, and on the agenda was upside down pineapple cake, sloppy joes, potato salad, and a lot of catching up. My grandmother and grandfather were the first of my relatives aside from my immediate family to meet Tom before we announced our engagement. My grandma fell in love with him, which was such a relief to me because she can be mighty picky. Which is a good thing, right? We’ve exchanged emails since I left. I send her photos of life here and she sends me cute recipes and updates in all caps to show her excitement. I’m sorry if it seems like I’m throwing tidbits, or verbal snapshots, into this entry. A friend of mine lost her grandmother very recently and it’s made me realize that I want to remember more than just what we ate, where we went, and who we were with on our vacation. I’d like to remember the little things too.
My grandmother talks a lot, and excitedly. My grandpa says, “That’s right, dear” sometimes just to assure Grandma she’s remembered the story right. Grandma has a laugh that belongs to an older Japanese woman. Tee hee hee. They’ve both lead a full life and visited many, many countries. Scotland was their favorite. When Grandma gets a little flustered or determined, she purses her lips just like my dad. Or rather he does it just like her. Grandpa didn’t come with Grandma when she visited us in Okinawa because he served there in World War II and it was too hard for him to go back. My Grandma is very opinionated and a battle warrior for all things “Green”. She’s spent the last few months organizing fundraisers by herself to help raise awareness and fight a local energy company. They want to put a well near a park and put their chemical discharge down it. She excitedly scribbled a diagram showing how her researched proved that within thirty years, all of it would be in Lake Michigan. She just informed me in an email the other day that the company finally surrendered, by the way. Pineapple upside down cake is her favorite.
My grandpa is amazing. He is a gentle presence and I think one of the things I will always remember about him was that he hand carved the most beautiful birds, especially ducks, from wood. My parents divorced when I was twelve and my grandma and grandpa made sure to get my sister and I out to their house for several weekends- along with our two cousins, very similar in age, whose parents were going through a divorce as well. My grandparents are the only reason I know my cousins so well. They’re the only cousins I am close to, actually.
My grandpa is dying. His cancer has come back and he’s doing his best to fight it, but he tells me he’s tired and that getting out of bed on some days is too much work. This is surprising because I’ve never heard a negative word out of his mouth, ever. I hope with all my heart that he can hold on to see Tom and I married.
On my desk, this photo is. One of the first actual pictures of Bronwyn and I together. We’re usually both so glued to our cameras that we never take a moment to get a picture taken together.
I love this picture of Kat and I wish I didn’t look like such a goober in the photo with Tom.
Another desk photo.
She was taking this photo, by the way.
8 Comments
Bronwyn
1 Sep 2009 at 1:20 amYour new layout is amazing! I don’t care if it’s not finished! Holy beauty!
Lysha
31 Aug 2009 at 11:28 amI love all of the photos – everyone looks so genuinely happy and your grandparents yard looks absolutely gorgeous!
angelic-lie
31 Aug 2009 at 4:27 amEverything is so awesome… as usual:)
Ashling
31 Aug 2009 at 2:54 amShortly after the news, I contacted all of my (local) friends to remind them that they mean the world to me. Remembering/appreciating people is crucial, but I’m still working on it when it comes to family. Thanks for your comments and notes at Flickr. They made my day ^_^
Bronwyn
30 Aug 2009 at 11:30 pmWow Heather, thank you for both of those comments! I love that photo of them too – I love it when people don’t know I’m photographing them. 😉 *is a creep*@Heather
Bronwyn
30 Aug 2009 at 11:28 pmI love this entry so much. I love how I learned so much about these people just by listening…which we all did well, haha. I’m SO happy to hear the company gave up! Your grandmother is a force, I’m not surprised. As for your grandfather, may I just say that I wish I was able to talk to him more. There was something about him that really intrigued me but I had no idea what to say to initiate conversation. 😡 He’s one of those people that I instantly adore, feel some sort of connection to without words which sounds…ridiculous, I know.
Your family was so fun to photograph. <3
Heather
30 Aug 2009 at 7:47 pmI’m really sorry to hear about your grandpa. My grandpa just died of cancer after fighting a tough battle with it, so I can really relate to how hard this must be for you. I have actually been wanting to write an entry about him, but I just haven’t been able to yet.
On a totally different topic, I love that first picture of you and Tom where neither of you are looking at the camera. Such a beautiful picture!! Also, I LOVE your hair. I wanted to get bangs like that and keep my hair long, but then Brock mentioned he didn’t like bangs and so instead I just chopped my hair off. I love your cut so much!! ALSO, whenever I see a picture of Bronwyn I LOVE what she is wearing. So if she sees this (which I’m betting she will!) I love your style, Bronwyn!!
Lollie
30 Aug 2009 at 7:45 pmHi Sara!
Sorry I haven’t commented in ages, I’ve been so busy working full time (for the first time in two years :s) and moving my site and blog around to find what suits me best (loving your new layout by the way). I have been reading though, and first of all, I would love to congratulate you and Tom on your engagement 🙂 I was very happy when I read that post, the pair of you look so happy together.
I’m sorry to hear about your grandfather’s cancer – I hope he gets to see you married too, that would be a lovely memory to have at least. I agree too, on it being the little things that are often so important to remember. My Grandpa died when I was 8, and I don’t really remember much more than he was deaf, very sarcastic, and loved to read the newspaper. I guess though I was too young to think on it too much – it didn’t really hit me just how important the little things are, until within the space of 6 months my Mama and Grandma both died. I was 13 when those events happened, and even then it has been hard for me to hold onto the memories I have of them. I really should write them down I guess. My Pa is still about, but these days he doesn’t seem to be with it – he still thinks I’m 17 and completing my last year of school and keeps asking me if I’m applying for university. It’s not easy having to bring him up to speed every Sunday when I see him.
You do take such lovely photos, and that photo of Bronwyn’s is also very lovely. 🙂
Also, your Grandmother sounds awesome! Good on her for doing all that research and fighting against the energy company!
xx