Saying Goodbye to Meme
I often wonder why people seem to find a need to express extreme hatred towards the life they live. Hearing so many people talking about their lives in such a way, ranting about how they can’t stand their grandparents, complaining because they don’t have things they want, and simply speaking with dissatisfaction makes me reflect on my own life. Should I be complaining that I don’t have the newest and greatest products that trending on today’s market, or should I just be happy that I’m here on earth living and breathing, getting the chance to experience everything that life throws at me knowing that it will make me stronger in the end? Ever since January 8th, 2010 I’ve looked at my life from a different point of view because that morning I lost someone that meant the world to me; I lost my best friend, my grandma.
From hearing about other people’s relationships with their grandparents, I realized that my grandma, who my sisters and I named ‘Meme,’ wasn’t only a grandma in my life. The memories of time spent with one another stay strong in my heart; venturing to her favorite get away on the coast of Maine to walk alone the shore searching for sand dollars, making trips to the Duncan Donuts up the street from her house to satisfy the craving for a daily dose of Munchkins, and visiting the Longhorn Steak House where she knew most of the waiters and waitresses by name, as well as various other adventures we did together always make me smile. There was never a time that I wasn’t happy around her. The smile and lively energy she managed to bring to her loved ones’ lives each and every day while hiding the fact that she was courageously battling with cancer inspire me to look at life with a different, more positive attitude.
At the end of summer, 2009, my mom and I flew to New Hampshire where my grandma resided to bring her to California to live with us because she reached the point in her life where she needed more assistance. A couple nights after we arrived on the East Coast, Meme experienced some pain in her chest, resulting in a trip to the hospital – the breast cancer that metastasized to her bones also metastasized to her brain. The likelihood that we were going to be able to move her west was looking skeptical to my mom and me, but with the amazing doctors and the determination to be California bound, we still made it to our flight with my grandma on board. The exhausting week of spending our days by Meme’s side and staying up until eleven or twelve at night packing up her belongings made our arrival in California a big sigh of relief. Though my very independent grandma may not have admitted it at first, when she arrived to her new home and bedroom to see it freshly painted to match her house in New Hampshire, the deep breath she took when she sat down on her bed was priceless.
Though saying goodbye to Meme, my best friend, was a struggle for me and my family, her spirit still lives on in all of the positive memories we have of those past sixteen years we spent with each other. My grandma, my best friend, my inspiration; I want to be just like her when I grow up – I want to be say “that was fun” just like she did when her time with us was coming to a close. I would give anything to see her again; however, I keep in mind that this is not a goodbye, it’s just a see you later – love you Memers, not a day goes by that I don’t think of you.