Things she told me

I had tears in my eyes as I read your story. I'm so proud of you. I know whatever you want to be, you'll do it. 

I love your humanity, compassion, and insight.  I love you not only because you're my granddaughter, but because you're full of all the qualities I admire most. You have many more great qualities, but those are ones I treasure most. You are a treasure and a real person.

Hugs, 

Grandma Peggy

I've been reading old emails and comments from my Grandma, and this one stood out as possibly the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me and something I want to live up to the rest of my life. She wrote this back in 2008, on one of my old blogs that approximately two people read (my mom and my grandma). She has always been one of my biggest supporters. I realize that more fully now, which makes it hurt so much more deeply that she's gone. To lose that kind of light in your life--that kind of person who loves you how you need to be loved and is such a part of your history. It's a giant chasm that no one else can fill. Last night my mom came home from Oregon, and she gave me a bottle of my Grandma's favorite perfume, the one I remember her always smelling like. L'Air du Temps. Fragrances can so powerfully evoke the memory of a person. I pulled off the cap and breathed it in, and then came the tears.

* * * * *

Do you realize how much your words can mean to someone? The things you say and do, the trail you leave in your life... they are your legacy. You can change the world with them. You can change people, and that's the same thing as changing the world.  Lately I've been more keenly aware of the trail I leave behind me. The things people will remember me by when I'm gone. 

Humanity, compassion, and insight. Powerful words, and I can't tell you how much it means to know she saw those things somewhere in me...