Gram...

This is Gram. . .

Right now she is in a nursing home. Her memories disappearing. Here she is with Luke right after he was born.

But before... My Gram. She lived right across the street from us when I was growing up. I remember spending lots of time at her place. Spending the night in a sleeping bag on her bedroom floor. Playing the organ at her house. She and my Pap got an Atari... the first video game we had ever seen. And it was so very cool. Erin and I loved playing Breakout.

On Fourth of July we would go to Hills and see the fireworks. And when I got older, down to the Point in Pittsburgh to see the really cool fireworks. Gram would always pack some goodies for us. A little baggie of snack size Hershey bars and such hidden away in her pocket. And a little cooler of Diet Pepsi. She always brought along diet Pepsi wherever she went.

It made me a little sad when I found this photo of her today. Almost six years ago, after Luke was born.

And tonight.... I am packing up the vini-man. Sam is taking Jaxon to hockey practice right now. And when they get back, we are headed off to the drive-in to see Cars 2 (shhh... it's a surprise).

So, I'm packing up blankets and pillows (so we can be comfy). I'll be popping popcorn. And I filled a small cooler (the soft red one Amie gave me for Christmas) with 2 Cokes.... And as I put them inside the bag, the heavy in my heart grew.... The wishing... And memories of her voice... And her hands full of happy chocolates... A smile on her face...