I bet she's tickled.

My dad's mom, Grandma Head as we called her, was a most interesting woman. She passed away in April 2006 at the ripe age of 92 and even then seemed to me to be healthy, strong, and quick to laugh.

I've been thinking about her lots lately because our lilies are poppin' up everywhere-hang on'- I'll explain.

Meanwhile, here are a few tid-bits about her:


1. She was born and raised in Canada. I remember when I was young that she would visit her family and "homeland" on a somewhat regular basis. This fascinated me.

2. She had a wildly interesting young adulthood complete with mystery and intrigue. I don't think I have enough space to fully explain that one.

3. She played a mean hand of gin-rummy.


4. She was serious about her faith.


5. She appreciated the little things.

6. She loved her family and liked to make them happy.


7. She kept her fridge stocked with a supply of strawberry Chek just for me.


8. She spent hours upon hours exploring in the woods with me and finding shells to paint.


9. She let me make messes in her kitchen cooking Kraft Macaroni & Cheese-the original version- and then fully cooperated with me when I said I wanted to pack it all up and take it to the woods to have a picnic.

10. When I was very little, she would tape record me talking, rambling, and singing. I have entire boxes of cassettes of such recordings.


11. She spent many many hours driving me to see my dad. And if I had a craving for Arby's along the way, well, we got Arby's.

12. She liked lilies.

These exact bulbs were planted around the perimeter of her house and when all in bloom, were spectacular. After she passed away, Rod dug many of them up and planted them in our yard - all around. I am so grateful to him for having the foresight because I cannot tell you how tickled I know she is looking down from above and seeing those lilies blooming for us to enjoy.

Recently, I found a picture of her holding Aynsley when she was a baby and it dawned on me that I thought I'd taken a very similar shot of her holding Tristan. That gave me an idea...I wanted to find one of she and I and frame the three pictures together-her with me and each of my children. After hours of sifting through pictures in the attic, I found what I was looking for.

So here she is with me, in 1976 ish:

Here she is with Ayns in 2004:

And with Tristan in 2005.

She was a neat and quirky lass and I miss her.

The lilies are in bloom, and a sight they are.

I bet she's tickled.