If you could name one person in your life that had the most impact on your life who would it Be?

I'd like to say it was my Mom or Dad but it isn't. The person who had the most impact on me was my grandmother.

What brought this post around?

Looking through old student teaching lesson plans. One of my friends is currently getting her state teaching certification and was looking for a lesson plan based on M& M's. Well if you are a teacher or are working on becoming one you know you always keep the good ones. The lesson plans that year after year are just as much fun as when you first taught them.

That special one of kind lesson plan was personal. It was an author study focusing on reading and writing like a writer. But it was more than that for me. It was personal. Not just the teaching part but the writing part. I wrote a piece dedicated to my grandmother. For fear I won't be able to continue to write through the tears, here is that piece written on May 6, 2001.

"Made with love"

The first time he saw her hands he knew.
Her hands were ivory white, soft as a baby's skin, and as delicate as the petals of a rose.
As he held her hands, he knew.
Her hands would hold his world, tell his stories, weave their life.
He placed the ring on her finger, held her hand, and knew...
She was his forever.

He watched as those hands held his first child, a son, Donnie.
Then his second child, a son, Warren.
Her hands held their world, told their stories, weaved their lives.
And then she began to knit...
to weave...
And one by one, we were born, her grandchildren.
First me,
Then Donna,
Then John,
Then Michael,
Then Jillian,
Then Ian,
Then Keith,
Until Kristen.

And still her hands held our world, told our stories, weaved our lives.

Today like any other day, Grandma is present. She is present in everything we do, in every strand of our lives, almost like the threads of time. Grandma knitted our lives with happiness, and a sense of family. She filled our lives with a richness that is unique and immeasurable. Grandma is our "Ruby" in the rough, our family jewel.

I always wondered what her parents were like.
Where did the knitting of our lives begin?

As I thought of her knitting, I thought about how my life and those of my family are interwoven by her love. During every important part of my life she was there. There for me to laugh with, cry with, joke with, lean on, or talk to.

To hear her laugh was to share in her happiness.
To hear her sing was to feel her peace.
To be hugged by her was to feel her strength.
To see her cry was to feel her pain.

And yet she still continued to knit.
And then my niece was born, Elise.
And then the knitting stopped...the day Grandma died.

I remember, remembering...
I couldn't see her hands...
I couldn't hear her voice...
I couldn't feel her strength...

I wondered if all she worked so hard to build would unravel right before my eyes. Grandma held our lives in her hands, told our stories, weaved our lives.

Who would hold us now?
Who would tell our stories?
Who would weave our lives?

Time passed...and I waited, wondering...how life could ever be the same without her...

The first time I held his hands, I knew.
His hands were strong yet gentle.
His hands were warm and safe.
His hands would hold my world, would tell my stories, but who would weave our life?

Before the wedding day, I wondered what could have been if she had been there. I wished her every way that I could but she was gone...

On the day of my wedding I wore her very first rosary close to my heart.
I wore all the happiness she shared, her hopes, her dreams, her life.
As I walked down the isle I realized Grandma never left me.
She was already there, waiting, watching...

As the organ played, I heard her voice.
As I leaned on my father, I felt her strength.
As I looked at my husband, I cried her tears.
And she continued to knit through me, her hands were now mine.
He placed the ring on my finger and held my hand and I knew.
I was his forever.
And then I started to knit...


With love your granddaughter Kimberly

If you have a person in your life like my Grandma, hug them and tell them you love them. Life is too short.