A few days ago, my grandmother, Louise Hart, or, as she wanted to be called - "Tutu" passed away. She had been living in a care center for over three years and did not know who we were, so her passing was not sudden, nor surprising. It is sad, though, for it has brought many thoughts to my mind about her. She was not your "typical" grandmother in any sense, at least to my brother and sister and I. There are no memories of going places, doing things, attending performances, reading books, special celebrations. That was not her, at least to us. (I did realize, the other day at the funeral home, that my two much younger cousins had a different "Tutu" than we did. They had her at their programs, she gave them gifts for their birthdays and Christmas, she even had chocolate candy sitting out to eat!) I know she loved her work at Central High, and when we joined the Church and became Mormon, she did not like that at all and made it very clear over and over. I do remember that she made the best cole slaw I have ever tasted. Everything I know about grammar and proper speech I learned from her. I remember that she used to cook an amazing tongue (that's right...it would just smell great, and then you would look in that pot on the stove and see a big ol' tongue!Never tasted it, though.) She had a big real Christmas tree with the big multi colored lights on it. I remember her beautiful dishes...Franciscan Ware Desert Rose, and now I collect them myself just to have a memory of being at her house. I remember that she would give us a bon bon sometimes...the kind that were vanilla ice cream with chocolate on the outside. Just one, but it was such a treat. Her second husband was just a wonderful Grandpa to us and we loved him dearly. I just think it is sad...I remember more of her mother, Nano to me, and putting my doll clothes on her cats, drinking Coke in glass bottles on the stairs, playing her old player piano, taking her shopping and to the eye doctor on Central. I guess grandmotherhood is not for everyone. We must have made her feel old, something she did not like to feel, while my cousins - who are about the same age as my older kids- made her feel very young! All I know is that I am so very thankful that my kids have had two wonderful grandmothers - Nano, my mom and Grandma, Dee's mom. And now, I get to be "Grammy" and that is the very, very best place to be. I am so thankful I can love those grandbabies of mine, to see their letters to Santa and see Grace draw her hand on everything, to get a call from Adam saying, "Guess what, Grammy? It is snowing here in Las Vegas!", to think of them seeing Santa, to imagine their faces when they open the gifts I find and wrap. That is true joy to me, and I am so very glad I get that opportunity. I hope I never ever miss a chance to be a grandma. We only have one chance to love and to experience, and nothing is more important than that. Memories are all that are left when we leave this earth, and I want those about me to be the best.