I am at peace about Gramma's passing because she felt her time had come. The past few years have been difficult for her, but she passed away peacefully in her sleep with my mom by her side. Only a few weeks prior, she left me a congratulatory message about Nora's birth, and when I called her back she was overjoyed that my uncle had printed out a pictures so she could see my baby. Nora is her fourth great grandchild, and though I'm sorry they'll never meet, I look forward to telling Nora someday how thrilled her Great Grandmother was about her arrival.
Even though I know it was her time to go, I will miss my Gramma. I believe that after we die, we live on through those whose lives we've touched, so I wanted to identify a few things I got from my grandmother and have enjoyed sharing with her.
My name: My parents named me Elizabeth Ann after my two grandmothers, Elizabeth Kingston and Carol Ann Chambers. My grandfather's name was William, so as soon as I told Gramma Kingston that I was dating Billy, she told me I was going to end up marrying him. I'm so glad she was right!
My vocation and my bibliophilia: Gramma Kingston was a high school English (and Latin) teacher. My mom also started out as a classroom teacher, and teaching is an occupation that has always been highly valued in our family. I also seem to have inherited Gramma's love of books-- she always had them around her and frequently gave them as gifts. In my mind's eye, I can perfectly imagine her oft-performed gesture of putting on the glasses that hung around her neck in order to read. She also used to say she was "interested in what makes people tick," which resulted in her special interest in biography and autobiography. This also meant she loved reading my blog, and she has long been one of its most ardent fans.
My love of tennis: Gramma Kingston played tennis her whole life, and she took me to my first lessons when I stayed with her as a child. As I became more and more interested in professional tennis, I enjoyed talking to her about the latest news on the ATP tour. She was a fellow Andy Roddick fan, especially when he was coached by Jimmy Connors, and she remembers watching the Bryan Brothers playing at her Montecito Country Club when they were kids. It delighted her that I developed a genuine love of the game in recent years, and every time we talked she wanted to know what I thought about the most recent tournaments.
My sense that I am special because I am a girl: Until I was born, my grandmother had six grandsons but no granddaughters. From the time I was very young, she made me feel extra special for being the only girl. All told, Vickie and I are the only two granddaughters out of her eleven grandchildren. And though she was born several years before women earned the right to vote, Gramma was ahead of her time in regards to women's roles. She worked in Manhattan before she was married, enjoyed having a profession that allowed her to work outside the home, and started a Young Mothers program that served young women who had babies in high school.
I have enjoyed spending the past few days reminiscing about my best Gramma Kingston memories, and I'll leave you with some photos of one of my very favorite ones. I was so pleased that Gramma was able to make the cross-country trip to attend my wedding in 2007. Before she left the reception, Mom, Vickie, and I joined her in stepping along to her signature dance, "Tea for Two."
Rest easy, Gramma. We'll miss you.
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