My Grandma Mann died two weeks ago. It's been twenty-eight years since Grandpa Mann died suddenly of a heart attack on the night he had a retirement dinner in his honor. She has endured long and well and I am so happy for them.
Of all the things to sum up and say about Grandma the thing that most sticks out is a story my sister Shannon told at the funeral about rice crispy caramel balls. Every Christmas Grandma made these marshmellowy, gooey, perfectly decadent rice crispy caramel balls that were as good a reason as any to look forward to Christmas.
Apparently last year by the time Shannon got to Mom and Dad's house the rice crispy caramel balls were already devoured. She complained to no one out loud about it. A few days later Shannon got an overnighted FedEx package from Grandma with the coveted treat and a note instructing her not to share with anyone.
There is something in this story that captures the essence of Grandma for me. Of all her legacies, I predict that her capacity to see and succor will remain one of the dearest.
5 comments:
How I loved Grandma Mann!
So beautifully put. Mailed goodies with the instructions not to share. Sounds like a pretty good grandma to me.
So fun to see you last week
Shelley! Fun to come across your blog--it's been so long since I've seen you in the good ol' 6th ward (it's been a LONG time since I've been there). My parents said you had been in Utah when I was visiting, but I figured you had probably left already. I should have taken a walk down Del Mar and said hello! We live in Baltimore now--only a few hours from NYC. If you send me your info, I'll call you if...when...we go to NYC. How fun to live there! Take care, Mindy (Bliss) Phillips
Jmke.bloodspot.com
Auto spell correct is changing my blog address-- it is blogspot, not bloodspot (yikes!)
Shelley,
I love this post. I keep coming back to it to remind me about the kind of person I hope to be. Thanks for sharing.
L
Post a Comment