It's Been Awhile - How's The Family?

Hi folks....make sure to pick your jaws up off the floor as you see this in your Google Reader, it's true, I've finally returned to my blog after far too long away.

Some big things have happened since I went awol and it almost got to the point that I didn't want to blog again because it had been so long but I chucked that thought finally & decided it was time to get back into the saddle and just post something to get the blood moving again.

Nothing too exciting has been going on in  my absence - work has been its usual hectic routine since May (our fiscal year ends in May so as a fake accountant our year end is May 31 & super busy), going out with friends and seeing family as often as possible stayed high on the priority list and sadly, spending time on the computer kinda lost out. Go figure! LOL

On a more personal note, I'd like to spend a couple minutes talking about someone who was very dear to me that I lost just 11 days ago, my gramma Betty.

She was a lovely old lady and passed just 10 days short of her 89th birthday.

On her wedding day in 1942, 5 kids would soon follow.

My gramma was brave & always enjoyed living her life to the fullest. She loved to golf, travel, gamble & have a wee drink when happy hour rolled around. She met my grampa at a dance one night in 1942 and it was essentially love at first sight. They married quickly (it being war time) and they were together until my grampa Jack passed in 1986. They had 5 kids, started a successful business, argued with and loved each other for 44yrs...pretty amazing stuff really.

I was lucky enough to spend a lot of time with her in the year following my grampa's death. I pretty much moved in with her back then and was spoiled with lots of nights spent watching the bad late movies, sharing bowls of midnight Wheaties and going on quick trips with her to Calgary to visit my cousins. She gave me the opportunity of a lifetime to go to a high school far from home too, changing my life in ways that I will never fully be able to articulate.

My gramma & I at a cousin's wedding.

Later in life as her health made her more a prisoner of her own body, my gramma was a model of perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds & had an uncanny strength of will and spirit to overcome the limitations that age & medicine had placed on her. She spent the final few years of her life in a constant struggle hoping to minimize her pain and achieve some semblance of her former active life. Sadly that was never to happen but she remained mentally sharp as a tack throughout her troubles and always had a smile on her face when I got to visit & spend time with her.

After Her 75th Birthday Party

I dedicate my return post to my gramma Betty, gone but never forgotten & loved more than I can really say.