Life comes at you fast...

Unfortunately, I have no update on my sculpture for you this week. My grandmother passed away yesterday and I just didn't have the energy to go to class and be creative. My grandma had been sick for some time, living in a nursing home for the last year, and had just been moved to hospice this week. She had widespread cancer and it just finally got the best of her.

I think this photo from earlier this year shows my Grandma as I'll always remember her. I'm trying to pose for a photo with her, but can't get her attention because she's totally cracking up over a joke my dad is telling her. She was a tough, funny, stubborn, and incredibly loving woman who always fascinated me with her stories. She was the child of Eastern European immigrants and would teach me sayings in her native Slovenian language. My favorite is Na zdravje ("to your health"), which we would always say during a toast.

I'll be flying back to Wisconsin this weekend, just as I did in July when my grandfather passed away. It will be strange to go there and not see my grandparents, not to go to the old farm on which they lived for more than 60 years, not to hear all the old stories. I take comfort in knowing that my grandparents are freed from their failing bodies and that their suffering is over, and I'm so grateful that they each lived long, full lives. But I'll miss them just the same.