saying goodbye…and learning about yams

I got a call this afternoon from my stepmom and learned that her mother passed away this morning. It was pretty sudden, so I’m still shocked, to say the least. And so sad. She was a pretty amazing woman. And oh how she loved my husband. (Really, you aren’t going to find a family member of mine who doesn’t love him.)

She still had our engagement photo displayed in her room. We were engaged in 2007, so it wasn’t a recent photo. This week I was mailing her a copy of our recent photo that made the Christmas card (which I haven’t posted on my blog.) I guess I got to it a little too late.

When she still lived in her house (she only recently – like in the last 2 years – moved to an assisted living apartment), she had school pictures of my brother and me. She accepted us as family years ago, even though we were really just step-grandchildren.

A quick story. I remember we were sitting on my dad’s back deck one summer evening and we got onto the topic of festivals. My husband brought up the yam festival which is held near his hometown in southeastern North Carolina. This festival sounded a little strange to grandma O’Brien and all she could say (in her Massachusetts accent) was “what the hell do you do with a yam??” Everyone laughed so hard, but my husband kept on with everything you could do with a yam! (By the way, at this festival there’s a pageant, cook-off, auction and competitions all dealing with yams. THAT’s what you can do with a yam.) My husband and I like to bring that story up a lot (and I mentioned it to my stepmom today, which made her laugh.)

And a photo of grandma O’Brien with my brother at my wedding three years ago.

We really will miss her.