When I was fourteen years old my great-grandmother Tammy passed away. She was one of the biggest role models in my life. She was always kind towards others. I swear, that woman didn’t have a mean bone in her body. I looked up to her for guidance, often times when I was in sticky situations. She always knew what to say and gave the best advice. She had been a nurse for soldiers in World War 2 and she would always have such heartfelt stories to share after supper alongside a cup of steaming coffee. These touching stories made me too want to be a nurse when I grow up. She loved helping people which made her such a great mother, nurse, and grandmother.
I had gone to brunch with her one Sunday morning and I couldn’t help but hold a contagious smile on my face she had always managed to give me. My sister picked me up that day and I received a text from my mother to come home immediately. It was urgent. I walked into my living room, and she told me to sit down and continued on to utter those simple but merciless words to me that disrupted my soul forever.
“Grandma Tammy was in an accident and we don’t think she’s going to make it.” Said my mother under cold breath and quivering lips as this was just as hard for her.
My heart sank into a bottomless pit and my head was spinning around the room 1000 miles per hour. I didn’t know what to feel or how to think, I felt lost. Imagine having your rock, best friend, and role model all taken away from you in an instance.
I decided that it would be best for me to speak at my grandmother’s funeral considering she was such a huge part of my life. I curated the perfect speech and I hoped that I would be healed enough to communicate my love and respect I felt towards such a beautiful and loving human being to those attending the service. At her funeral the mood was light and uplifting as it was a celebration of her life and not the mourning of her death. I remember walking up to the stand paper in my shaky hand and eyes glared over at the slide show up on the big screens above her casket. I poured my heart out into that speech hoping and praying she could hear me, in my mind she was right there with me and these were my last words just performed and practiced to perfection. In her will, it said that I would receive her special baby spoon ring, I wear that ring every day and cherish the value and memories it holds in and of itself. I have baby pictures of her holding me wearing that very ring. The ring to me is more than a piece of jewelry. It is sentimental to my heart and will forever remind me of the legacy my grandma will continue to carry on for many years to come. Every day, I live my life in a way that would make her proud. I try to carry on her morals and way of life through mine, so that everything she taught me does not go to waste.