‘Everything you were I always wish I could be half that woman, and my life would be complete.’ That is what I always told myself after I realized I lost the one of the greatest women in the world.

When I was five years old, I used to go over to my grandma and grandpa’s house, which was right down the street from my house. I would go over and play in the sand box or just sit there and eat the strawberries my grandpa picked for me. My grandma was very active, though because of her older age she couldn’t move around as easily, so she sat on the couch in her long dress with her grey/black hair curled tightly to her head. I loved when she’d just talk to me.

On a normal day, I went to my grandma’s and had a snack, and I remember my mom staying this time with me. My dad, my brother, and I were out in the living room, talking and playing with my grandma and grandpa, and my mom was in the kitchen washing her hair in the sink, like she did sometimes. When mom gave me the shampoo, it made me think of a game I could play with my grandma. I took the bubbles from my mom’s head and rubbed them on my grandma’s legs. I thought it was the best game in the world to see if I could get from the kitchen to the living room before all the bubbles disappeared in my hands. I thought my grandma just liked it because it was like her own little massage. I ran into the kitchen to get some more bubbles on my hands, and when I did, I ran out as fast as I could to the living room. I went to my grandma and started rubbing it on her legs. She smiled and laughed, and then all of a sudden she started to slump down on the loveseat. I called my mom. “Mom, something’s wrong with Grandma!”

I didn’t know what was going on. I was scared something really bad had happen to Grandma. My mom then saw what happened. I asked my mom, “What happened?”

My mom said, “Everything will be okay,” as she picked up the phone.

“Mom, what who are you calling?”

“I’m calling an ambulance!” said my mom with fear in her eyes.

While my mom was calling the ambulance, my brother and my dad were trying to prop my grandma up right onto the brown and gold love seat. Right than and there I knew something bad had happen.

The ambulance, with its bright red lights and the loud sounds came pulling into the driveway of my grandpa’s house to take my grandma to the hospital. The nurses told us she had a heart attack and that she was doing okay, but she still wasn’t feeling well.

Eventually, my grandma was moved to a nursing home, and I visited her almost every day I could. I would draw her pictures, talk to her, and show her new tricks I could do. On Halloween I dressed up as a princess, and the ladies at the nursing home took a picture of us. They said, “You are your grandma’s little princess.”

I remember her getting worse every time I would go visit her. She started to breathe funny, and they had her hooked up to several of machines. A couple a weeks before she passed away, she started to gurgle while she was breathing. I also remember her staying strong through the whole heart attack and sickness afterwards. Every time I would see her I thought to myself, ‘If I am lucky enough to be half the women she is, I’m set for life.’ She was one of the strongest people I’ve ever met. She helped shape the person I am today. We didn’t spend that long of my life together, but the time I had with her she was the biggest influence in my life. I remember thinking, ‘I wanted to be just like her when I get older.’ Despite everything she had been through, she still came out smiling, which amazed me.

A couple months after she started to get worse, she passed away. I will never forget the kind of person my grandma was. I will not remember her for her sickness or her heart attack. I will remember her for the amazing grandma she was and what she inspired me to be.