Dear GiGi

You were always crazy for zinnias.


Dear GiGi,

I have been missing you.

There is so much that I

wish we could share.

You loved margaritas

and I wish that we could

sit on Mom and Dad's

gliders and sip our frozen

drinks and talk and talk

and talk some more, the

way we used to.

But you aren't really here.

The view from your room.


Physically, you live in a

cozy group home with five

other residents in a little

neighborhood 15 minutes

from your daughter, my

mama.  And you still know

your precious girl, which is

really wonderful.

You just forgot the rest of us.

You didn't mean to.  When you

are nearly 94 it is quite common.

But still.....I miss you so.

View from the gliders.

If we were sitting on those gliders,

back and forth,

back and forth,

frosty margaritas and the sun

dipping low on the horizon,

I would share all kinds of

news, because you were 

always the most appreciative

audience.

I'd tell you that our Elizabeth

arrived home on Saturday night

from Italy!  Did you ever think that

your great-granddaughter would go

to Italy when she was only 16?  

Maybe.  After all, you were only

17 and freshly graduated from 

high school when you auditioned for

{and made} a dance troupe that travelled 
across the Midwest and up into Canada.


You had the time of your life.

Gallery of your dancing days, in your room.

You confided that you didn't succumb

to bleaching your hair platinum like 

so many of your troupe friends.  Or 

smoke like they did, even though it

 was considered glamorous in the 1930's.  
Your daddy thought it made a woman
 look fast and you never wanted 
to  disappoint him! 

You never did.

I'd fill you in on our William, who is 
getting so tall; just 12 and a half,  he has big
 hands and feet like an overgrown puppy.

He is a teddy bear, a lot like your son
was, GiGi.  Remember your Doug?  He got

polio when he was seven, but you

were so strong and so brave and luckily

 you'd purchased polio insurance

at work,  just in case, so all his treatments 
were covered.  Gosh, you loved your boy.

Your boy and mine.....age 12  : )

I'm glad you don't remember that

he died 15 years ago.  I was with

you just before he went to heaven

 and GiGi,  you were so brave, again. 

 Which is really amazing when you 

consider what a softie you'd always

been; how you managed after such

a loss was a testament to your 

ability to stay positive, even in

the face of great sadness.

If we were gliding and sipping and 

 laughing....and you were nodding

and listening....I'd fill you in on my

blog and the special friends that 

I've made, all around the world....
and, in my own backyard.

Last week with my BFF bloggy buddy.

GiGi, you'd love them.  So 
many dear, fascinating people!

And you'd love that I'm writing.

Which is why I'm missing you, today.

Even though you are here.

I will see you in less than a month.

I will lean down to hug and kiss you 

and you will smile and say Well, hello!

but you're just being polite as you

let this kinda-sorta-familiar stranger

bestow her affections upon you.

And that's okay.

Because I know you.

And I love you.

I always will.

With your beloved daddy.

xx

Suzanne

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