Super Penguin

August 2nd was Grandma’s birthday. For the first 20 years of my life, we’d always call Grandma on her birthday. We’d sing Happy Birthday to her, and then take turns chatting with her. When we were little kids, my sister and I would fight over who got the phone first. Whoever got to talk second usually talked longer because they didn’t have a sibling nagging them for their turn to talk to Grandma. Grandma passed away in 2008. It’s been 15 years since I had the opportunity to talk to her on her birthday.

With most of my blog posts, I try to give you some behind the scenes info, or share something neat that happened. But I’m writing this post for me. I’m not sure why, but this year, her birthday is hitting a little harder than years past. Writing helps me process the grief and let out some feelings. I’m also writing this post to brag about how awesome my Grandma was because she was pretty great. I’m fighting off tears just thinking of Grandma and struggling to string together any kind of organized thoughts. Instead of fighting my now foggy brain, I’m just going to type the thoughts in my head stream of consciousness style. I hope it shows how special Grandma was to me.

I miss Grandma’s hugs.

I really wish Grandma could have been around long enough to see my book published. I know there are a lot of people that are really, really proud of me. But when my Grandma was proud of me, it felt better than anyone else’s feeling proud of me. Her super power was making other people feel special, and she was very good at it. She would have surprised me at every convention she could get to, she’d probably have a Super Penguin t-shirt made and tell everyone she knew about the book. I have dozens of people cheering me on, but she would have cheered the loudest.

Grandma would have loved Halley. They would have had so much fun baking things together and Grandma would have shared all her best stories. I would have loved being in the room when she did.

Grandma would have adored Parker. She would have driven to Danville for his birth, insisted on giving him his first bath, and would have tried to feed him cereal before anyone else. She would have danced with our toddler the same way she danced with toddler me (and probably to all the same songs!)

Parker and Halley would have loved her, too.

I’m thankful for all the time Grandma spent making things for us grandkids. She loved to cross-stitch and sew, and made several things for several people. I’m very thankful I have what she made for me and cherish it dearly.

Grandma would have loved to hear me on the radio, doing football games. With the technology available today, our games can be heard on the internet around the world. She would have listened to most of them from her home in Biloxi, and would have texted me to tell me she was listening.

Grandma definitely had a hand in my obsession with pop culture. So many of my toys and books came from her; Garfield, Sesame Street, Looney Tunes, X-Men, and more. She’d frequently take us to the movies. I think it’s fitting that the last movie I saw with her at the theaters was a super hero flick. She took my sister and me to see “The Dark Knight” down in Biloxi just a few months before she passed away.

I miss you very much Grandma. I love you thiiiiiiiiiiiis much (I paused for a moment to stretch my arms out as far as they could go, just like you used to do.)