My dad and I have a weekly appointment to talk on Sunday mornings. This morning our conversation was as usual, we focused on how my grandmother was doing. Her condition had been going down hill since the end of August when she broke her leg in three places and needed surgery. It was later discovered that she had a lump in her cheek that turned out to be cancer which had spread so much that radiation therapy or chemotherapy wouldn’t make a difference. About an hour ago my dad called me from the hospice care and told me she had passed away. She was 87, a few weeks shy of her 88th birthday.
Wedding photo of my grandparents John Benedict Sr. and Fay Benedict Date unknown
Lots of people have good memories of their grandmother and I’m no different. She (along with my grandfather) was a rock for me when my parents got divorced and their house was a refuge for me during those stormy years. My grandmother always made sure that I had a fun time. One of the things I distinctly remember is that on nights I would be there (often to sleep over) is the ice cream with the home made chocolate sauce. It was something that was always done with love and caring.
Her positivity and her joy for life. My grandmother (or “Mum” as I called her) always had this positivity about her. It didn’t matter what you wanted to do and she would try to move heaven and earth to help you and was always in your corner. This was evident even when she was trying to improve herself. I remember all of the ways she tried to break bad habits. Even the when I saw her for the last time (in a weird twist of fate the aforementioned broken leg happened the day we were driving home from our Pittsburgh trip) she was extremely positive. As you can see from the photo at the top of this post she enjoyed life. That picture was taken at my niece’s Bas Mitzvah (she was holding her great-grandson) where we we had four generations of Benedicts in the same room. It was a very meaningful moment to me and I’m sure to the rest of my family.
I’m going to miss her. I have so many good memories of her and will always treasure those memories. Her memory should be a blessing to our entire family.
