My grandmother and I have our special bond. She has one with each and every one of her
We got some bad news about her health and at 99 my immediate thought is that I need to prepare myself to say goodbye. So often in
My earliest memories include standing in your kitchen in the Kingston condo and you pull the cookie tin off the counter, it’s the blue Royal Dansk tin that you’d hold all your precious home baking in. Your oatmeal cookies were my favourite. We were allowed two. One for each hand. And we had to eat it in the kitchen so the crumbs wouldn’t get all over the condo.
In my twenties, I thought I’d lose you sooner than later so I asked you to teach me how to bake pies. Your specialty was apple pie. You lovingly wrote the recipe down on a cue card (which I still have) and we made the crust and apple pie together. I remember baking the same recipe for co-workers at work to show them how much I cared about them. You taught me that love can be shown in baking and cooking for others and I’ll always continue the tradition. I may adapt the recipe now for my food sensitivities but the love put into the recipes are the same.
You were and are a spitfire. I got that from you. Your husband was always mischievious when the grandkids were around and he’d make jokes and riddles. You’d roll your eyes and have a quick quip ready for him but I could see in your eyes how happy you were that he cared so much to entertain the grandkids with riddles and jokes. See at his memorial service, I heard over and over again from his sons (my dad and my uncles) that he was a hard-working man. He imparted that in them and in us his grandchildren but he was a family man too and the family saw that in the way he was able to impress fun upon his whole family as a grandfather.
The love you had and have for your husband taught me what sort of relationship was important to me. True devotion and love was so evident in your relationship. I would watch Papa follow you from room to room. Not overbearing or annoying but simply because you loved each other’s company and loved being around each other. You’ve shared stories with me about your engagement and life together and I know now as an adult it wasn’t always rosey but at the end of the day I know that you chose each other and never stopped loving each other and that is what I took and wanted for myself and will build with Mike. Thank you for the beautiful example of your relationship.
I love you Dorsey.