The past two weeks, there has been a gap in my posts. On July 11^th, I lost one of my most faithful readers, my dear grandmother Janet Rose. She has always been the person asking for latest things I’ve written, pushing me to follow my creative dreams, and wondering when that novel I’ve been plugging away at will be done so she can get her hands on a copy.

After 30 years with her in my life, it just didn’t feel right to post things I knew she wouldn’t see. But I know that Gram would give me a hard time if I leave off for too long. So, in the only way that seems fitting to pick up again, a tribute to her and the things I’ll remember fondly the most.

• Playing card games, especially when drinking iced tea and eating Nips candy on the back porch
• Picnics on the beach and ice cream at the Nokomis Groves afterwards
• Hunting for shark’s teeth and olive shells in the sand
• Eating the most delicious variety of dips at the kitchen counter while she stirs some equally delicious bubbling pot at the stove
• Sharing recipes
• Feeding and holding all of the tropical animals at Sarasota Jungle Gardens
• Doing puzzles together at Mema’s house
• The always-full game closet that gave us days of fun
• Learning to knit from the only other lefty in the family (then learning again when I inevitably didn’t practice and forgot)
• Playing video and computer games together. (Helping Gram get past the levels she couldn’t beat)
• Searching for treasures at yard sales all around town, and inevitably saving all my money for a rainy day
• Learning how to make her famous éclairs (and lots of ways to practice when they didn’t turn out quite right)
• Evening walks to the creek or railroad tracks or river or meandering through the woods
• Sending her long-winded emails full of all of the mundane details of my week, and knowing she printed them out to read over and over again
• Watching violent action movies with the only other person in the family who loves them as much as me
• The feeling of her soft hands in mine
• How I was always allowed to pick up her crossword and fill in a few clues
• Raiding her magazine and Reader’s Digest stash for reading material
• Falling asleep in “my” twin bed at her house to the tune of trains whistling in the background
• Telling her what I’m reading for book club
• Deciding together what I should have for a bedtime snack

It is the thousands of happy memories that we’ve had together that make me miss her so much. And in this time of grief and loss, I will think of those and remember the loving soul, huge heart, and wonderful Grandmother that I was lucky enough to have in my life.