Honoring Merner

I lost my grandmother this weekend. I lost the last grandparent I had. I lost "home." Her name was Yvonne, but we all called her Merner. (My brother could not say mother as a toddler, he called her Merner.

I was raised a military brat and while I had a strong sense of family for my immediate family, I had very little sense of "home", as in "Where are you from," home. My dad's parents did not travel, so seeing them was something that we traveled to do. But my grandmother (and grandfather), my mom's parents, were world travelers and no matter where on the globe we were, my grandmother was there to visit.

The first memory I have of seeing her, was going to get her at the airport in Mississippi. I was a little kid, maybe 5-6. We walked into the airport and my mom was a little frantic with the 4 of us kids and trying to find her mom. My mom said "There she is!" (I can still hear the excitement in her voice, seeing her mom.) and pointed to this upper level balcony with a glass rail. My grand mother had been sitting at something like a cafe table. She stood and walked to the rail and waved down at us. She had a black coat, cinched at the waist, huge black sunglasses, and the reddest hair. She looked just like a movie star. I was stunned. I had no idea I was related to a movie star. My grandmother was always like that to me, in so many ways. Bigger than life.

When my grandfather died, very young, 60, she came to Berlin to stay with us for a couple of months. It was heaven. She decided at that time she would read to my sister and I. (Tom Sawyer) I was 14, Catheryn was 10. I was a little embarrassed to think what my friends would think to know we were being read to. But I loved it. We loved it.

Years later, she still read to us. She read fascinating things. My most recent memory is of her reading to me a couple of years ago, at the river. All I could think then was that I wanted my toddler son to be read to, and remember it. Now, he will never have that.

I thought I'd include this link, it's from one of my old blogs, the place I've returned to blog at. D is for D Day and Those Who've Died I read this last week, before she died and thought "I need to mail her that box and this letter." And now, I cannot.

I am full of regrets for not saying all that needed to be said and doing all that needed to be done. Show everyone how much you love them, tell them, before you have no more tomorrows with them.

I am leaving today for a while to go be at her place, with her stuff and to be surrounded by her beautiful life. While down there these last few days, I discovered she had a recent love of a good margarita. So I packed a tub of my best mixes and several of us will make our finest margaritas and have a Merner Maragrita Night and celebrate her life.