This was my FB tribute to Grandma on Sunday, August 28th:

Today, you are free…alive again…alive in the heavens. No longer trapped to the cage of your body that held your beautiful soul captive in the form of advanced dementia. You are alive again grandma…in the heavens. For so long, I took some comfort in knowing that somehow, I could hug you again…like I did in this picture. I took comfort in knowing you were “still here.” Now, I can only take comfort in knowing you are free from the pain…free from that bed…free in the heavens. I keep saying that over and over again…because for so long, you have been living but not been truly alive. But, yet, how we all took some sort of solace knowing that you were still apart of this earth. It’s so bittersweet…to experience such profound grief…but yet to know you are finally free…tears of joy mixed with tears of loss…I love you Grandma….I love you mom!

What I did not share on FB was, how much I truly loved those hugs. I was talking to my Aunt Karen tonight...and we were talking about these hugs. As a girl, I would just kneel down on the floor at her chair and lay my head across her lap. I would do that so often. I miss hugging you Grandma.

I shared this on Facebook...but I will share it here too. Grandma was so patient with me. I remember being so frustrated because at the "old" age of 6, I couldn't read. I must have been the most impatient child...I would try and stop. Grandma never let me quit...and she would remind of "the little engine that could"...."I think can, I think can..." Finally, because of her, I learned to read. 

Grandma taught me to play Silent night on her beautiful piano. It took a few hours and she always encouraged me to play anytime I would visit. That's grandma...always encouraged us to do the very best.