Thanksgiving Thursday: Mary

One of my grandmas died yesterday. It makes me sad, because she lived in Florida, so I didn't get to see her very often. On one hand, I'm pretty lucky because I've got a lot of grandmas- marriages and divorces amongst grandparents and parents will do that for you. On the other hand, that's just one more special person to lose.

The last time I saw Mary, last summer. We're having lunch for my dad's birthday. She's the one on the end, on the right, next to me.

But instead of being sad about Mary's death, I want to be thankful for the time I had with her. Remembering the little things that I loved about her. One of the crazy things I hate about not living on the East Coast is that we don't have Dunkin Donuts. Not because they have the best donuts in the world (I know, because I had one on my last visit), but because of the memory of spending time at my dad's house, and some evenings, Mary and Pete would come by with a box of Dunkin Donuts and we'd sit and have coffee, eating our Dunkin Donuts. I always felt so special and grownup because we got to have coffee and donuts.

I also loved their old house in Bernardsville, NJ. It was one of my favorite places to go, and I loved all the wonderful times we had together there. I'd spend hours in the basement, making up songs on their piano, or upstairs in Laurie's room (who has also passed. I miss her) playing Barbies.

Of course, I also loved their house in Florida, and one of my most memorable times was having Thanksgiving with them in Florida. I loved that she had such a variety of food- traditional Thanksgiving fare, Italian food, and German food. YUM! They also passed around a liqueur, peach brandy, I think, and she let me have just a taste. Which made me feel ridiculously grown up, and I'll never forget that.

She also gave me a doll- I still have her, and her name is blue dot. I remember her laughing and saying what a ridiculous name it was, but the name stuck. Blue dot was one of my closest companions for a long time, and I always thought I'd give her to my girls someday, but so far, I've been afraid that they won't love her as much as I did, so she's still in my closet, waiting for the right time.

So today, I hope you think about the special people you're thankful for. And be thankful and blessed for the time you had with them.