Celebrating a Birthday and Remembering My Grammie

Today is a very exciting and sad day all in one.  It is hard to believe that my "little" Hayley is turning five.  It seems like just yesterday, I was bringing her home from the hospital in the take home outfit I wore home from the hospital!  While we celebrate, we are also sad to say good-bye to my grandmother.  She passed away yesterday afternoon.  I knew this day was coming because we were told she wouldn't recover from the pneumonia, but it is still hard.  I thought I would share a few of my favorite pictures I have of her.

My brother, my grandmother and I at Storybook Forest
This was taken some time in the 80s

My Grammie and me ~ Christmas 1974

When Grammie first met Joey

My Grammie and Joey helping celebrate my birthday

I don't have many pictures of my grandmother after this point.  She started to become very confused, and my visiting her became more stressful to her than pleasant.  My daughter Hayley is honestly a small clone of me.  So when we would visit, she thought that Hayley was me and couldn't figure out who the rest of us were.  She would be very quiet when we were there because I could tell she was spending the time thinking of just who I might be.  She also started to become less mobile and wasn't able to attend our family gatherings or the kids' birthday parties, something I remember she always enjoyed.  The good thing is, though my grandmother didn't recognize me when I was visiting, I have such wonderful memories of spending time with her when I was little.  She was always a dreamer and always encouraged me to pursue my own.

I love you, Grammie, and will miss you very much!