GramLee

She always signed her cards and letters "GramLee", but her name is Lyla.
This is my favorite picture of my grandma.

She passed away last night and it was a pretty rough morning when I found out. Thank you so much to my friends at work that just let me cry when I needed to and helped me laugh when the shock wore off. Thanks for all the hugs and support!

My favorite memory of my grandma was when she came out to California - she lived in Minnesota forever - and we went to Folsom Lake. We had three dogs at the time and they were all muddy and jumped up on her white pants. She laughed it off and had a great time, she could have cared less that her white pants were so dirty.

I'll never forget her collection of butterflies either.

Grandma put this in a frame with her photo years ago:

Warning
by Jenny Joseph

WHEN I AM AN OLD WOMAN I SHALL WEAR PURPLE
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

Taken from the book
When I Am An Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple

Rest in peace grandma. You are loved and missed.