Remembering

I left the kids with my parents and went shopping on Saturday. When I got back, we went to the cemetery. My grandpa (dad's dad) died in 95. He couldn't hear a lick and he watched Wheel of Fortune every night. I am reminded of him every year when we eat sweet corn from the garden. He couldn't eat it without getting butter and corn from ear to ear. I obviously miss him, but I didn't have a bond with him like I did with my grandma (mom's mom). She died last year. She would have been 103 this year. I miss her like crazy. She had a stroke five years ago - but until then, she lived alone, drove, volunteered. So kind and patient. Amazing lady. I went to her house after school and spent weeks at a time with her during the summers. I remember her always trying to get me to eat something - cookies, hot dogs, frozen pizza, grapes, mac and cheese. It was her thing to try to get you to eat when you were there for a visit. She always played games with me when I was there. We'd play Battleship and Sorry. When she died, I got the only thing I really wanted - her board games. They are old and tattered, but they are one of my most prized possessions. It's really like she's been gone since her stroke, but finally losing her was still a blow. I hated to go to the cemetery because for the four years she was in a nursing home, I could barely visit her without crying. And even after all this time, I can't not cry when I visit her grave. Time will help, I know, but I am still missing her like crazy. As my mom and Coop went up to the church, dad and I hung back and I said to him, "I miss Grandma". He said, "I know kiddo. Everybody does." Yep, that about sums it up.

What's really interesting is that my dad's dad and my mom's mom are buried only a few feet from one another. So, when my parents are gone, they will be buried a few feet from both their parents.

On the way home from the cemetery, Coop and I had the most hilarious conversation. I needed to laugh, and he came through for me. We drove past a brown house. The conversation went like this:
Coop - Mommy, that house was red!
Me - Nope, it was brown.
Coop - No, it was red.
Me - No, it was brown.
Coop - Mommy it was red.
Me - No, Cooper, it was brown.
Coop - Brown and red?
Me - No, just brown.
Coop - Brown and red?
Me - No only brown. Just brown. Not red.
Coop - Say you're sorry, Mommy.
Me - I'm not sorry. The house wasn't red. It was brown.
Coop - Mommy, that house was brown and red!
Me - It was brown.
Coop - It was brown and red.
Me - It was brown.
Coop - The roof was red.
Me - The roof wasn't red.
Coop - Mommy, it was red!
Me - OK, I'll give you the roof. It was red.
Coop - What was red?

Funny how a child can make everything ok.

One final thing... I had the SLR digital camera from work last week. Below is a pic I took of Evan. Beautiful picture. Definitely need a new SLR digital camera.