Gram would have turned 100 last week.
Sheโs been gone a year and a half, but sheโs still with me. I think most of us have dear ones โ human or otherwise โ like that in our lives, who are gone but remain close.
Love can get crowded.
I miss Gramโs sharpness, her unfettered willingness to share her opinion with all who would listen, even those who werenโt remotely interested.
We had our weekly 3 p.m. Sunday calls for years. We counted on it.
Iโd save up things to tell her throughout the week โ little absurdities from the world, like this email:
On June 7, UA President Ann Weaver Hart signed the Interim University Policy-Making Policy, which replaces the former Administrative Policy Formulation policy. The new policy is designed to streamline the processes of creating and revising policies, as well as clarify procedures for repealing policies and making non-substantive revisions. The policy and supporting procedures are availableโฆ
Oh, yeah. Policies. She would have loved that.
Iโd have told her about the plumbing company pickup truck I saw the other day, with an illustration painted on the driverโs side door of a person from the shoulders down, sitting on a toilet, pants around the ankles, so it looked like the truck driver was sitting on the can.
Iโd explain how Olivia the Wienerdog is so over the yappy schnauzer next door that she doesnโt even bother to bark at it any more. Gram loved her schnauzers, Gus and Jeb, so that would have given us a lot to talk about.
The best people are dogs, she would say.
She would have loved hearing about how trash cans go floating downstream when monsoon rains flood Tucson streets.
In our weekly calls weโd talk about politics, and I think she enjoyed sparring with someone willing to give it back to her.
She was a lifelong Republican from Nebraska, which is the best place in the world, she would be sure to tell you.
We would go around and around about elections and issues and she would eventually say, โWeโll just have to agree to disagree.โ
And weโd move on to the personal lives of my dogs or pet mice or guinea pigs, and all would be well.
She wouldnโt remember the names of my friends, so sheโd come up with descriptions from stories Iโd tell her about them. Howโs your friend, The Nudist? she would ask.
Thereโs so much in this interminable presidential campaign we would have talked about.
She would have had no affection for Hillary Clinton, I can tell you that right now.
If she had any secret satisfaction about seeing a woman in the Oval Office, it would have been overrun by criticizing Clinton for being pushy and bossy while failing to acknowledge the irony of her assessment.
I donโt think Gram would have stood for Donald Trump, either.
Sheโd have dismissed him as a showboat, and seen right through him. She would have had no patience for his ignorance about the world โ โBelgium is a beautiful cityโ โ or his limited vocabulary. She would be appalled that her beloved Republican Party had nominated such a buffoon.
Thereโs so much Iโd like to tell her, so much to laugh about, so many ongoing discussions that remain unsettled.
Weโll never resolve the question of Seeโs versus Russell Stover candies, or if birds have names for each other, or what is the most boring vegetable.
So Iโll keep collecting bits and pieces to share. Itโs a way to remember.
Gramโs no longer here, but sheโs never far away.
