Saying goodbye

“People passing by they would stop and say, Oh my that little country boy could play,” Johnny B. Goode, Chuck Berry

This week I said goodbye to an amazing woman, my grandmother. No matter how much we think we are prepared for a death, we never really are. I know she is at peace, and at 95 years of age, lived a great life. She experienced many ups and downs, but remained a fighter. Some of my best childhood memories are of times spent with her. Times my sister and I stayed the night playing Racko, staying up all night, and watching movies we really weren’t supposed to watch. The best thing was, she was always there with us having just as much fun.

Many, many years ago my grandmother said something that has been a family quote ever since. One of the times I was a topic of discussion, she simply said, “Kitt is Kitt.” She summed me up perfectly. Her true understanding of me, for good or bad, is a memory I will forever cherish and remember as I learn to live in a world without her.

More than anyone, I think my grandmother knew just how much I am my father’s daughter, her son. I may look just like my mom, but I am my dad. From sharing the same taste in music, television, books and film, to sitting the same way when watching anything, to being a little misunderstood and closed-off, I am my dad. My grandmother always seemed to understand that. She knew that my dad was my hero, in good times and bad. I like to think that he was hers as well. All families have ups and downs, but the love is always there.

So as I prepare for the influx of family arriving, and all that comes with a passing of a loved one, I remember the good and forget the bad. There is no need in remembering any of that. There is only need in celebrating a beautiful life. And when things get tense, as they always do when family is involved, I will simply stop and think, what would Laura Bush do?

Author’s Note: I picked this song because the movie Johnny B. Good was one of those films my grandmother let us watch when we really weren’t old enough. Good thing we didn’t really understand some of it!