2 years

I can't believe that on Wednesday, it will have been 2 years since Granny died. Sometimes, it still hits me out of nowhere like it's the first time for me to hear the news. This year, I have decided to take the week and do a little something each day in her honor--things I know she would have enjoyed or encouraged. Here's the plan . . .

Sunday (yesterday) - Gifts from Granny contributed to a lunch that fed the working homeless at Our House Shelter here in Little Rock. Caroline and I were able to help serve the lunch. It's always such a blessing and a great reminder that, in the words of Granny, "but, for the grace of God, that could be me." If you have any interest in volunteering or donating to Our House, click here--it's a great organization!

Monday - after school today, I'm taking the kids to Community Bakery and getting cookies. One of Granny's favorite things to do when she was in town was take the kids for an after school snack. We would pick her up from Mom and Dad's and she would walk out to the car with her red wallet in hand. I can still see her stopping after she opened the door to say hi to each kid individually before hoisting herself up into the suburban.

Tuesday - Sascha and I are going to visit my Grandma at the nursing home while the other 3 are in school. Granny was always so good about visiting people who were sick or in the hospital or the nursing home. Gifts for Granny will be doing some sort of donation this week regarding nursing homes . . . stay tuned!

Wednesday - JOSH'S BIRTHDAY!!! We laughed (and cried) that Granny would have kicked herself if she realized that she was going to die on Josh's birthday. He may have been her favorite of everyone. Even if he wasn't the absolute favorite, they definitely had a great bond and relationship and kept each other laughing. After one of her surgeries, she confided in him some of the hallucinations she was having because of the pain meds and they told that story over and over again afterwards. Wednesday, because of her absolute adoration of Josh, I will honor her by focusing on celebrating him. I cannot imagine how mad she would be if she thought we skipped loving on him each year to mourn her. So, Wednesday, we will party. And go out to eat, because Granny loved to go out to eat for a celebration!

Thursday - One of things that Josh and I have been working on this year is converting his office to a guest room. With 4 kids and the crazy schedule that we have, it has taken us a while because it has had to be done in a few hours here and there. We are using a lot of furniture and accessories that I kept from Granny's house--in fact, they come from the room where I slept all of my life at her house (at least until we had too many kids to fit in there). As we have envisioned the guest room coming together, we made a decision that we want it to be more than just a place to hang during tornadoes (although it will be great for that) and not just a fun place for the kids to have sleepovers or even just for friends and family when they visit (but, please, friends and family, come!!). We want to be able to use it for other things too . . . Rwandan college students over the summer, birth mothers who need a place to stay until their baby is born, as well as other thoughts and hopes and ideas. It is perfect that Granny's furniture will be in there because Granny cared for people. At one point, she and my grandfather moved their family out of their own house and into her mom's house for a period of time to let a young couple live there. Pop and Granny were the picture of generosity. So, Thursday, I will be working on getting that room ready for visitors.

Friday and Saturday are still in progress.

You can be sure that this week there will be tears and laughter and reflection. I know that not everyone can understand why she left such a void for me . . . not everyone had a Granny who was also an amazing friend and example. But, I was lucky and I don't want to forget all that I gleaned from her for 33 years.

Feel free to click over to GFG if you haven't ever done so and read more about her and the legacy I am trying to continue and honor. And check back there later this week for the latest gift.