Grammy's List: part one

This past weekend, I said goodbye to one of my favorite people in the world.

My grammy passed away after a three week stint in the hospital recovering from heart surgery. As crazy as it sounds to say I was shocked when I heard of my 83 year old grandmother passing away, I truly was. She was so determined and strong and vibrant that I guess a part of me always thought she would pull through. That she would always be around. And I miss her already.

I've been working on this post for days now, and I keep deleting, cutting, pasting, and then shelving it for another day. I'm having the same problem that I did when I spent hours writing her eulogy for the funeral last weekend...

There aren't enough words in the world to sum up her life

and what she meant to me and so many others.

So instead of trying to capture everything, I thought I would just share ten little things about her (five today and five after I finish scanning pictures). Just so you all so you could get a peek at this classy lady...

This list is for Grammy:

10. Her signature colors were pink and blue, and she decorated her house with them everywhere.

And I do mean everywhere.

9. She was a hilarious hybrid of Italian cook meets health food nut. Everything she cooked was salt, butter, sugar, and fat free. (When Dan and I visited her two summers ago, we snuck out for Coldstone's ice cream like two addicts.)

Even if some of the food had us all reaching for the salt shaker, there's a reason she still looked so great in her 80's!
8. She loved to dance.

Grammy and me (age 3) dancing to a record.

Many of the guests at my wedding marveled at how she (then 78!) danced for hours!

7. She was fun!

No swimsuit? No problem!

6. She had a great smile :)

Love this 1949 picture!

Proud grammy at my sister's graduation

5. She was a girlie girl, just like me:

Grammy letting me (age 5) play with her make-up.

The second half coming soon...