Grandma Ann

When I came across this picture on my mom's camera from her trip to Wisconsin in May, my heart melted.

To most this is just a window but this window and especially it's view holds so many memories for me. It's the window that sits right above my Grandma Ann's kitchen sink. I've seen such beauty through this window as I spent time at my grandma's condo. The glorious trees, bunnies, deer... but I mostly see my Grandma by this window, peeling her morning orange with her elbows on the counter, one leg bent and the other straight. Her CD player running. I see her fruit bowl on the counter top across the way and the magnetic cross stitching still on her refrigerator that I made when I was just a kid. Her big sliding glass doors that led to the deck out back - our favorite spot for pictures. It's amazing how one picture can evoke so many memories and so much emotion...

Last week I traveled with my parents to Wisconsin and spent my last time in her condo but she wasn't there. Her place was sparse with almost everything gone. Grandma has been moved to a nursing home and has been in and out of the hospital. She is not herself physically or mentally but she still has her wit! My mom said I was able to see her on really good days. I'll never forget her reading the recordable book that Aunt Barbara got for her to read to Claire, Eden, Pierce and Baby Boy Lewis. She didn't miss a beat and what beautiful inflection. With a smile she agreed when we told her she did a wonderful job reading and said "I have the gift of reading you know".

Here we are sitting in the sun room. What a joy it was to spend this time with her and I'm so blessed to have had this time with her and my other family.

I'll share more photos of my time in Wisconsin but wanted to make this post one of it's own.