Hello! This is a memorial piece for my grandma, who passed away recently.

My grandmother passed December 26th, 2017. Born during the Depression, she never imagined the events that would occur during her nearly 92 years on Earth.  Here are three memories that made me realize how much the world changed for her.

In 2014, at the age of 88, she came to visit me in Boston with her friend, Dale.  At Dale’s insistence, we went down to Provincetown for a day. When Grandma abruptly stifled a laugh after reading a funny poster for a very gay theatrical production, Dale squeezed her arm and said, “It’s okay, baby.  We’re safe here. We’re safe.”

I called her when the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling was made. For the first and only time in my life, I heard her speak through tears of joy. “That’s all we wanted,” she said. “We’re not hurting anybody. We’re not.”

During the last election, every time we spoke from June until November, she excitedly, and defiantly, announced she was voting for Hillary – the female candidate.  I think the excitement of voting for a woman mattered more to her than the disappointment of the election results.

Grandma loved her sons very much and would tell me every time she saw them – even my dad, who lived 50 feet away from her for the last six years of her life. She survived the death of her son, her partner, and all seven of her siblings, sometimes gracefully but sometimes not.  She was a great mother-in-law for 30+ years but, lord, did she ever try my mother’s patience in that last year.  She was deeply flawed and, in her own prickly and stubborn way, incredibly loving.

She was my beloved grandmother and I miss her very much.

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest –  Matthew 11:28