Gamma

My life would has been very different if it was not for one person. I would be terrible at reading, I would not have this blog, I would always be sad. That person is my Grandmother. Seventeen years ago when my Mom first started going out with my Dad and she got a call saying she had a heart attack and that she may die. But she lived. She lived through more then seven heart attacks and many other sicknesses. She lived to see all her Nine Grandchildren and most of them grow up. When my oldest cousin Lee first met her he called her "Gamma" and my Grandfather who died when I was little and never got to meet Finn (My little sister) called him "Fuv Fuva". And that has been going on since then and he still called her Gamma and so did I. For years she has been my favorite person in the world. If ever anyone of use were sad we would call her and she would give us advise. When we found out I had a trouble reading she helped a lot. She used to be teacher and she toughed me some stuff and I never remember her never yelling at me. She also like me had a interest in Whales and toughed me lots of facts and sometimes I would call her for her to tell me some. When we found the school that would help me with my reading, we also found out it was a lot of money. She said she would pay for it. She also paid for most of my trips and camps. She paid for four years at the school. For many of those years she had got sick many times and we thought it was going to be over. My favorite memories of her is when I was a little baby and she and my grandfather watched me I remember watching 'The Land Before Time' and I pooped my pants and they did not realize and when my parents came back with giant Thomas the Tank Engine (I was his 1# fan) puzzle and running around with it giving them a big surprise. I also remember her showing me all the animals she could make with clay. She would make a Hippo turn into a turtle in less then a minute while I sat there eating and staring in amazement, and when the phone would ring I would run into the other room and talk in that phone and make every one mad but still laugh. Also when I was young they gave me a stuffed animal cow with wings and while my Grandfather was reading the paper I through it at him and I remember the sound it made when it hit the paper and when he yelled "HAY!" and Gamma saying "John he is just a baby". And when it was Christmas there was a model train in the lobby that would go around a table and I would just sit their and watch it go around and around and mostly it would fall. Many times I tried to pick it up. One of the greatest things she ever did was every time I went up she would hand me a 'Time' or a 'National Geographic' Magazine for me to read and she always saved the ones with Whales in them, and one stupid kid made fun of me for liking whales she said "When a Whale Gets picked it just bounces off it and the person leaves it alone" that line has helped me for years. I was really thankful when she found out the author of the bestselling book 'Beluga Days' parents lived there and I got to meet her and she signed my copy of the book and we had a two hour talk about Whales. She also told me to never give up. Two years ago a day after Thanksgiving she came over my aunts house. She had a stroke. I remember sitting in the kitchen with my cousin eating when my uncle an in yelling "call the police!". I ran into the living room and everyone was trying to help her. My Aunt said "Do you need an Ambulance?" and her replay was "Hell No". My Aunt still called and my cousin and I had to sit in a TV room and watch reruns of the 70's show 'Saved by the Bell' which my cousin is a big fan of. she lasted two more years. She had seen all her kids get married and all her grandchildren and help them out. Yesterday she made the busdriver and all the people at the front desk laugh at a funny joke and went up to her room and sat on the chair and turned on the TV and left the way she always wanted. By herself at her home. A little after that I was biking up my driveway. That whole day I had the song 'Many Shades of Black' which is a song by the Raconteurs about something bad happening. I put my bike in the shed. I was running into my house and right before I stepped in I heard my mom saying to Finn what had just happened. I thought I misheard he saying something else and I stood there for a moment and walked in. My mom almost in tear said "Gamma Died" sat down at the table and remember the last time I went to see her. It was two weeks ago and her face was all red and wrinkly and you could see the veins in her arms. I new then after seventeen years of taking nine pills a day the time was soon. Then looked a my watch. I looked were you put the little piece of mettle through the hole to keep it on. I always put it on the second but I just noticed it was on the third. Maybe it was a sign. I sign of stepping up maybe. We went up yesterday and my mom and her sisters tried to find a good place for the funeral. I will miss Gamma a lot but after these years I am ready to step up.