My Granny died this morning. She was my dad's Mom and lived here in the Cincinnati area. She was survived by her husband of a zillion years, Grandpa Stan, her three children: John, Susan, and Sarah; three grandchildren: me, Joni, and Curtis; and three great-grandchildren: Patriot, Azlan, and Elias. I don't know the exact cause of death. Her health had been failing for a while now, and she was taken to the hospital last night with stroke symptoms. They determined she had fluid in her lungs and carbon monoxide poisoning. I'm sure we'll learn more in time.

I remember a lot about Granny. She always told a story about when I was a child and she was taking me to the zoo. I was upset because I didn't have new sandals, but I apparently pronounced it "sanders," which she loved.

We used to go to Granny's house for Christmas every year and she always made the best pressed cookies! When she started getting sick and couldn't bake anymore, I secretly tried to mimic her cookie recipe every year, but they were never quite right. I'm sure she'd have given me the recipe had I asked . . .

Granny was quite the card player! She played all kinds of different card games, but we played a lot of Uno around her kitchen table.

Granny loved bird watching. I think cardinals were her favorite. She always had a bird feeder or two set up and could tell you about all the different kinds.

She always used to sing the John Anderson song "Just a Swingin'" -- I have no idea why. She was a Cincinnati Reds fan, especially Johnny Bench. But she was always disappointed by the Bengals (just like the rest of us!). She had also gotten into Nascar and had her favorite drivers, but I couldn't keep up with all of that.

Granny was a spirited woman! She kept up with politics and current events and had an opinion about all of it. She and Matt had several friendly sparring matches, but she always won!

I remember she cried when I told her I was pregnant with Patriot. She said, "I didn't think I'd live to see any of my great-grandchildren." Not only did she live to see them, but she attended Patriot's first birthday party. When Azlan was born, she held him for the longest time and then asked us to take him because he was just too heavy.














She requested to be cremated and have no funeral service, so we're going to have a small graveside service for her. If the circumstances are right, I think I might take the boys (or at least Patriot). Neither have ever been to a cemetery or had any real encounter with death. I don't think Granny would mind if they raised a little ruckus.