Remembering Her Five Years Later

These are pictures of my maternal grandmother, Elaine.

She was stunning in every way that you can imagine....physically beautiful, unconditionally loving, incredibly brilliant, and a born survivor.

She passed away five years ago today.

My grandmother grew up an only child and lost her mother to a brain aneurism when she was just 16-years old.  She met my grandfather when she was 15 and he was a scandalous 19-year old boy headed out to the navy during WWII.  Right or wrong, they loved each other fiercely and the hundreds of letters our family has in boxes demonstrates what it takes to wait for the love of your life while you're out at sea praying for a war to end so you can marry your soul mate.

I've missed her lately.

She was a masterful communicator.  She knew how to butter up anyone so that she could break the cold hard truth and they would thank her for looking out for them.  It blew my mind everytime.

She was a fashion model in New York City in the 1940's and understood how to work the camera lens while recognizing that at the end of the day, it was a pay check and that physical beauty was a dime a dozen.

She was a doting wife....and I mean doting.  A true 1950's housewife with dinner and the newspaper on the table along with a scotch and a kiss at the door.

But more than anything, she was a mother and a grandmother.  And she loved her children and grandchildren with a ferocity that feels unparalleled now-a-days.

She believed that ultimately, people were good and that it just took finding the sweet spot whether at the grocery store, the drycleaner, the bridge table or the neighborhood culdesac.

I miss her.  I wish that she knew my children and how much I try to emulate her way of living.  My prayer is that she's dancing with my grandfather, happy, beautiful, and free.