My Dearest Grandmother

60 years. There are sixty years between my grandmother's birth and my own. She has lived through what i have read in history textbooks. And at surface level, we have very little in common. I know nothing of quilting and she has never heard of Coldplay.

Yet she has influenced my life so much. Years and years ago, after my father and mother divorced, and my dear mother worked and took college courses on the side as a single mother, my grandma stepped in and spent time with me (some may call it babysitting) each day after school.

I absolutely adored her farm. There was space for 7-year-old me to chase after bugs, collect rocks, go fishing, paint a tractor and dig potatoes. What more could i have asked for? Amazing homecooked meals? Well i got those two. And on top of everything...

She is one of the very very few people in this world whose love i have never questioned. I don't exactly know why. But i have always known that she loves me and that she will love me until the day i die. As close to unconditional love as i can find, God not included.

The following are some lyrics i wrote after spending some time with her recently. It doesn't have a melody or music yet, but it will.



I NEVER DOUBT HER LOVE

We walk entangled down the street
Beautiful lady on my arm
Her blue eyes and mine, they meet
They may be tired, but they are warm
My face beams with open pride
Everyone who sees us, they smile
And though she was born in 1925
We still walk for miles and miles

I never doubt her love
I never doubt her love

I hang on every word she says
from old recipes to older songs
and though the years have softened her skin
they've also made her strong
she's lived through the depression
and more than a couple wars
buried a husband, mourned a child
and still her smile sings and soars

I never doubt her love
I never doubt her love

I wonder what she's seen
all that she knows...
Is she tired of being here?
Is she ready to go?
Our time isn't long
so i take what i can.
her star is dimming
but it's still there