To Grandma

Dear Grandma,

There is so much I would like to say to you, but more than anything I just want to thank you for everything that you have done for me.

To begin with, I would like to thank you for giving me my mother, a woman who has loved me and supported me in more ways than I can list. I know that she has learned about love from her own mother, and for that I will be forever grateful to you.

I would also like to thank you for the countless happy memories that you have given me. Thank you for taking me to Disney World. That was an experience I will never forget and as a 7 year old I couldn’t have been happier.

Thank you for making me my quilt, I still sleep with it on my bed. Thank you for giving me olives as a stocking stuffer at Christmas. Thank you for wrapping the cans, even though we all knew what they were. To others that might seem a trivial detail, but it always made my Christmas a little more exciting and a little more delicious. Thank you for making French Cup Cookies (or whatever they are called) and hiding them in a place that you knew the grandkids would find. Thank you for always hosting Christmas; your basement was the scene of countless games of ‘jailor’ and pool or ping pong.

Thank you for all the trips to the cabin, when you made chocolate chiffon cake and green jello, for giving me a quarter to play ‘Achy Breaky Heart’ on the jukebox at the bar, for giving me an extra cookie whenever I asked. Thank you for swimming with me and watching me when I wanted to play on the swings or in the sand.

Thank you for taking me to Jim’s Bakery to eat giant ice cream cones and helping me convince Grandpa to go to McDonald’s. Thank you for always opting to go to a restaurant that you knew I liked and for thinking about me whenever you planned meals and desserts.

Thank you for teaching me how to play cards, for being patient when I made a bad play, for being my partner in countless games and for making me laugh, even when we lost.

Thank you for always thinking about others and for trying to make the world around you a better place. Thank you for being generous and compassionate. Thank you for doing everything in your power to make your family healthy and happy. Thank you for giving of yourself when ever you could. Thank you, Grandma, for everything.

For these and countless other reasons, I will love you forever and ever.

Love,

Leyah