Gram

Gram,
You were one fourth of the people who raised me. You taught me please and thank you. You taught me appreciation and guilt. And, you taught me that a good apology goes a long way. Looking back, I think I (and the other two musketeers) owe you quite a few of those.

Sorry for the excessive amounts of laundry detergent used on washing doll clothes in the sink. Furthermore, even more apologies for the mess we made on the floor, Lord knows that suds were tracked throughout the house. All I can say is we must have been fascinated by the swirling colors of blended baby clothes. (Thanks for being the one to hang them up, and take them off the line when our attention span lasted a mere ten minutes.)

Sorry for the quick evacuations after pooping in the tub.

Sorry for using you salad tongs in the toilet, after I peed, wiped, and lost my choker ring in the bowl of pee. Even more sorry for putting them back without washing them. I will say that I rinsed them off. I was seven. I didn't know better.

Sorry for making potions in the sink with all the spices in the rack. I'm in college now and would do anything for someone to buy me the hoards of spices you had.

Sorry for helping hang up the wash on line and dropping it in the gravel.

Sorry for tracing through the garden and squashing the veggies.

Sorry for begging.

Sorry for egg dye that I'm sure you're still trying to get out of something or the other.

Sorry for drawing on wall in the back room. Even if it was just that one small green line. I needed to know what it felt like.

Sorry for making your living room look like holiday elf regurgitation, with the overuse and clumped window clings. We were short. ALL of them were placed within the bottom two feet of the windows. I cringe when I think of how that must have looked.

Sorry for climbing all over your furniture.

Sorry for jumping on the bed, no matter how many times you said no, and for breaking the bed frame more than once.

Sorry for forcing you to read to us for hours at a time, and do puzzles we had done more than 100 times prior.

Sorry for throwing animals down the laundry chute.

Sorry for messing up your embroidery.

Sorry for the money you will never get back due to the mass amounts of toys purchased at the second hand store.

Sorry for eating half the raw pancake batter out of the Tupperware bowl. Every time.

Sorry for watching the same movie. Every day. For the whole summer. I know what that's like from the adult standpoint these days. It is absolutely dreadful.

Sorry for sitting in the gutter during torrential downpours and tracking mud through the house.

Sorry for the unending stream of happy-meals.

Sorry for the screaming.

Sorry for being literal tornadoes.

I'm quite sure this list doesn't cover it all.
But, in the same respects, a huge thanks is due as well. And as previously stated, I'm positive that words could never show appreciation enough for what you did for me, and what you continue to do.

Thank you for instilling a sense of guilt in me when it was needed.

Thanks for letting me sit on the kitchen counter and sift all the flour. I loved that. (Sorry I got it all over the floor).

Thank you for setting the stage with your piano skills for all living room performances.

Thanks for teaching me how to thrift, how to shop, and how to know a bargain when I see one.

Thanks for showing me that it's okay to leave out some things when talking to the men in life. They don't need to know it all.

Thanks for watching our puppet shows. I'm quite sure they would have put me to sleep.

Thanks for showing us what a real meal looks like...you shouldn't be able to see the tabletop.

Thanks for the unending supply of snacks. Even bigger thanks for the fact that you placed them in the kid friendly section of the kitchen: the bottom drawer. Growing our independence and sweet tooth simultaneously,

Thanks for the solid breakfast skills. And thanks for instilling in me what a good 'cheat' day is, by sometimes allowing our morning meal to consist of chocolate cake, a Pepsi, and a side of sprinkles.

Thanks for the energy. Every day. Despite how tired you probably were. We never knew it.

Thanks for listening with undivided attention.

Thanks for pushing me on the tire swing.

Thanks for trusting me to water your flower beds.

Thanks for the stories, and knowing when we were old enough to hear the real life ones.

Thanks for teaching me how to be nosy without being discovered.

Thanks for showing me what a good humor is, and how to let stuff roll off my back.

Thanks for teaching me how to use my mouth in more ways than one: to thank, to apologize, to gossip, to sass, and to talk smack.

Thanks for teaching me how to drink a beer from a young age, you may have not know I was watching, but I was.

Thanks for showing me how to truly dance at a wedding. No holding back.

Thanks for the years of letters.

Thanks for teaching me your charm and whit.

Thanks for providing the most sincere laughs.

Thanks for showing me how to be strong.

Thanks for loving with a whole heart.

Thanks for supporting me.

Thanks for an example of how to live.

Thanks for sharing your heart with me.

And thanks for becoming my best friend.