Family Fridays – Grandma Lewis

Amy, and her pal Kel, started a new link-up today called Family Fridays! I love this idea because I am pretty obsessed with my family.. and having a reason to blog about them once a week is pretty spectacular. Thanks for coming up with this girlies!

My sister and I always like to say, “Our family is better than your family.” However, I think a lot of people think that about the ones they are related to. I know, though, that when my parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, and nephews get together, we have a pretty amazing time. 

Whether it is a birthday party, holiday, wedding, or random Sunday dinner, there’s guaranteed to be laughs had and memories made. Sadly, one of the shining stars of our family passed away 2 years ago this past February 11.My Grandma “Toots” was one of the most impressionable people I’m sure I will ever know. She was loud, honest, loyal, and caring. She was funny, proud, and very protective of the ones she loved. She would do anything for anyone she loved. She was our everything.

She put up with prank calls from my cousins and me by pretending she was the police station and probably taught me my first swear word. She was a woman who we were excited to see and one that we always wanted at a party. I even had her at my bachelorette party! She loved to dance and loved when we would dance all around her. “Shout” will forever remind me of Toots…

When she passed away, we all lost a little piece of our hearts. I can honestly say that I will never get over losing her. She was my only Grandma after my other passed when I was 7, so I grew up always turning to her. She was what family is all about.She knew the importance of family – that sometimes we were all each other had – and taught me to feel the same way. 

My cousin wrote one of the most incredible posts about my Grandma last year. It starts like this:

I once knew a woman. She was wonderful. She liked to have her hair perfectly done up with lots of hairspray, bobby-pins and sometimes even a matching bow. She was witty, and funny, and sometimes, frankly, offensive. She was marvelous. She was perfect. She was my grandmother.

You can read it here.