 | The Saddest Thing I OwnA collection of life's saddest objects, their sad stories, and our reasons for holding onto these sad things. |
Good Day, Sunshine. We All Tipped Our Hats.
Posted On Thursday March 8, 2007 By MichelleI was recently reminded of a card that I had found from my grandmother, (Grandma Sunshine) after she passed away when I was eleven, in sixth grade.
Grandma Sunshine and I shared a birthday and until I was seven years old I had lived right next to her and spent at least 3 days a week with her after I moved. She really was my best friend, and the day I found out she died was one of the worst days I have ever experienced.
It was three months later at the earliest and I was going through the bottom drawer of my mother’s dresser. In the drawer I always knew she kept random things other than clothes like photos and cards. I was just shoving things around not really looking for anything I can remember specifically when my hand ran over a card that had sunflowers on it, my favorite flower since I was 5. It said “Happy Birthday” on it and so I picked it up. When I opened it I saw my grandmother’s curvy but scratchy handwriting spelling out my name. In it it said:
Michelle,
On this day
I wish you the best
of the brightest
of the most wonderous wishes.
Happy Birthday
And in her handwriting it said: “See you soon! Grandma Sunshine”
She died September 2, 2000. The time frame I opened that card was early december, right after my birthday, it being November 27.
When I closed that card I immediately started crying knowing that if I do ever see her again, it will not be soon at all. My grandmother was one of the most wonderful presents I could have ever been given, and I can only hope she felt the same about me.
As I grow up people remind me how much I am like her, in how I look and act and how I act according to my looks. (I’ve been told about how much of a knockout she was when she was young and what she did with it… (five children)) I really do hope I am like my grandmother, because that means that when I pass people will only think of me fondly. I want to be remembered for just how good I was at lifting other people up just like she.
Tags: birthday, card, grandmother, sunshine
The Saddest Thing I Own is a 2005 commission of New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc., (aka Ether-Ore) for its Turbulence web site. It is supported by the Jerome Foundation in celebration of the Jerome Hill Centennial and in recognition of the valuable contributions of artists to society.
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