It's been awhile...

I'm not going to make any apologies. Nothing significant was happening there for awhile, so there was nothing to communicate. Then when the significant things started happening, I was too busy to write anything here.
However, as the song says "Strange things are happening/Strange things are happening to me".
My grandmother died just recently. A little more than a week ago, actually. Over this past five days, I flew down to Houma, where she lived, to attend the funeral, and all the attendant functions that accompany such an event. The experience was an enlightening one.
My grandmother and I were not what you would call close. In fact, I don't think I've spoken to her since my Grandfather died just this past February, only 11 months ago. Now, before anyone gets the wrong idea, I wasn't AVOIDING talking to her, I just... didn't.
But that isn't to say I didn't love her. In fact, this whole thing has somehow reminded me just how big a part of my life she really was, and will continue to be, and just how much I loved that tiny little woman.
My Grandmother was probably the biggest 4'0" woman (blatant exaggeration, she's was small, but not a midget) I've ever met, and let me tell you, that's saying a lot. I can still remember looking down at her, when, with her diminutive form, she began to scold me the last time I visited. At first I was amused, as I usually am when someone shorter than me goes autoritative, but as she spoke, I realized with wonder that she wasn't REALLY small, that was just her body, but SHE was towering over me, and I found myself paying real heed to her words:
"Brian, " she was saying. "why is it that money seems to burn a hole in your pocket? You should save some of that away, and go to school. You're so smart and talented, I hate to see it go to waste." And she was right. I didn't know it, not the way she did, but she was right. And so, here I am at 24, trying to save money for school. I've got some socked away, not enough, but some, and eventually, I'm going to do exactly as she said, and go back to school.
But the thing about that memory isn't really that she was right. Or even really her presence which made her so much MORE than just a tiny little lady. As she finished scolding me (because that's what it was), she looked me up and down, and said "Boy Brian, did you ever get tall! I don't know how Patricia (my Mom) does it, I'm getting a neck ache" And with that, we both cracked up.
My grandmother, who had to have been just this side of 80 at the time, and me, who had just graduated from high school, laughing at the same thing. That was the thing about her, she never seemed to be an OLD lady. I mean, she was clearly getting on in years, but she never came across as old, the way some do. I'm really gonna miss her.
Wherever you are, Grandmother, I love you, and I know God is taking care of you.

G'night