Goodbye, Gram

Gram, with my daughter, Christina, at Christmastime in 2007.

Gram, with my nephew Waylon, at Christmastime in 2010.

She lived fully and robustly for about 80 years, then persevered for 11 and a half more. This morning grace claimed Clarida VanDyne from the purgatory of her physical and mental condition.

I’m so very relieved for her, and mostly for my mother, who has borne the brunt of my grandmother’s Alzheimer’s for the past decade. I’m certain the inexorable extraction of the spirit makes this is the most cruel of any imaginable disease.

Still, as our family comes to grips with this reality today and fights with tears that fill our eyes, we find ourselves amazed at the ferocity with which Gram fought for her life. We’re warmed by the certainty that even though she no longer knew us, she continued to feel so much joy in the presence of our children.

And I, for one, will never, ever, let her memory fade. Her name will grace my books. Her stories will fill my speeches. Her principles will reinforce my every action and interaction.

On a day when I was perhaps more eloquent than today, I remembered Gram on her 90th birthday: http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2009/12/happy-birthday-gram/.

To say thank you, Gram, doesn’t begin to be enough.