My WV List: #8 Grandma

8 is my favorite number.  It's fitting then, that I make it special.

There was really only one thing I was excited about for sure when I came to WV.

For well over 20 years I lived 700 miles away from my Grandmother.  She has lived in Hurricane, WV for the last 30+ years, much of it alone.  Well, not really alone, as she is a highly active social lady with lots of friends.

I don't feel like I got to know her very well during that time.  I'd see her at Christmas, and during our family vacation in Maine every summer.

Grandma trying a crayfish I caught and cooked

Besides that, it was only family deaths or reunions.

And that's no way to foster a relationship.

Being less than 3 hours away, we have got to spend a lot of time with her over the last five years.

Many games of skip-bo at Grandmas

Well, maybe not a lot.  Certainly not enough.  But more than we ever have before.

Since moving here, I've come to really know my Grandma.  She is a very smart lady, who is incredibly resilient and independent.

No one is as kind as she is, or as giving.  Just check her mail...or her message machine...she's got more requests for donations than anyone I've ever met...because she is CONSTANTLY giving donations to someone or something.

And Carly has got to know her too, and that has been really great.

So, moving here, I've actually come to miss her more.  I miss her more because I regret not having known her well, before now.

I cannot be thankful enough for the time spent with her.

So, when I leave Morgantown, she will be on my mind.  I will have a heavy heart as I make the long drive north, knowing what I'm leaving behind.

Here's hoping I will see here again very soon.

But it won't be soon enough.