Share a memory of your grandparents (or another older friend).

When I was little spending time with my grandmother (Memere) was the times I looked forward to more than anything. I would beg my mother to let me spend weeks at a time with Memere and her second husband either in their home in NH or at their camp in ME. I didn't have a good relationship with my father's mother. She never liked my mother, still doesn't. Considering that I am my mother's clone, those feelings of ill regard that she held for my mom were automatically passed on to me. My Memere however, was wonderful. My mom and her didn't always get alone, what mom and daughter do? But my Memere and I were best friends when together. We would go shopping, out to dinner, cook meals, anything we could think of to have fun. She bought me dolls then let me decorate their clothes with her special paints and sequins she'd find in her sewing and craft room. She was the grandmother that I loved dearly and who I couldn't wait to see again.

But when I went and spent time with my grandmother, I didn't have the counter part. My mother's father (Pepere) died before I was born, I was never able to meet him. However, while my dad's mother didn't particularly warm to me, my grandfather and I got along famously. Him and i could be helling at each other one moment and the next moment laughing again. Out of the three grandparents I had, I was blessed to have two who I loved dearly and who were great friends to me.

Unfortunately both my Memere and my Grandpa died when I was young, within a year of each other. Within that year both of those friends were taken from me. This past weekend my dad dragged me with him to visit my grandmother, something that is not exactly my favorite thing to do.  However, towards the end of our visit, my grandmother pulled out a bag of pictures that she was giving to my father. The majority of them were pictures of her during WWII while she was in the Navy. Buried deep in them however, were a few pictures of my grandfather, smiling. It was exactly how I remembered him, smiling, laughing and holding a camera. The pictures were perfect. I asked my dad if I could grab some of them, put them in frames, take them to school with me. It'll be the perfect addition to my growing collection of pictures. Now all I need is a picture of my Memere exactly how I remember her, walking on the beach, her feet in the sand, smiling.