Super Granny

With a title like Super Granny, you know she had to be a very special lady. And she was indeed that. She bestowed the title upon herself, but she always was so super that I never questioned it. Instead, I assumed that she really was everything she had claimed to be. She was always super--Heck, maybe even super duper. In fact, lose the maybe; she was even Super Duper-- and that was all I needed to know. She more than lived up to the title.

My Super Granny would have been 85 just a couple of days ago, February 5. The fact that we didn't get to celebrate that birthday with her is something that I know cuts deep, not only for me, but for my whole family.

Super Granny was a giver. Of many things. To me, she gave love, joy, good advice, lessons on life experience, and a lot of fabulous presents! To my Dad she gave life, love, discipline, understanding, support, and, among countless other things, an incredible and undying model of parenthood. And I know that when my Dad married my Mom, she gave her many, many of those very same things.

And let's face it; without her, our Christmas tree would never have overflowed quite like it has for so many Christmases past.

It's so strange for me to think that I'll never see her again. I saw her just this past Christmas, and she was fine. Just as headstrong and independent as ever. I think it'll be a  very long while before I forgive myself for not even saying goodbye. I knew she was leaving, the last day I saw her, in the back of my mind I remembered. But I was in a hurry, as so many of us are these days, and I somehow just assumed that I'd hug her neck and say a proper goodbye later. 

Unfortunately that wasn't the case.

Hearing what had happened was like a slap in the face. It was always what Mom and I would call our "worst fear". Even still, when it actually became reality, it seemed like the least likely explanation. That there must be something else, or that it was some kind of bad joke. Or maybe just a miscommunication. Still, what was our "worst fear" turned out to be the very best for Super Granny. She passed away in her sleep-- in her bed, in her home. What better way is there to go?

I will always miss Super Granny, but she's keeping better company now than she ever could here with us. It's always hard to say goodbye, and it's even harder to remember to celebrate their life rather than dwell on the sadness of loss. I just try to remember that it's only a "loss" for us. For her, now, everything is perfect. Everything is as it should be.

I love you, Super Granny. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being absolutely everything that a super granny should.

My family, at the LaDuke Family Reunion

Summer 2008

Spontaneity, Thou Art Achieved

Still in an attempt to better myself in the ways outlined by my belated New  Years

 Resolutions,  I made a very spur of the moment trip with a couple of friends just across the Oklahoma border.

To gamble.

Yes, we made a mini-road trip to the Winstar Casino and, although none of us three walked away millionaires, or even thousandaires, we had a really fun time.

And I have pictures to prove it.

Behold! Evidentiary support that will without a doubt prove to you, the esteemed members of the virtual jury, that I have in fact succeeded at least a little in the area of increased

 spontaneity.

What you are about to see will prove that 

without a shadow of a doubt--

I gave this one some 'special effects' since it was blurry in the first place.

A pretty spiffy fountain, if I do say so myself!

Mel tries her luck!

At one point, luck seemed to be on my side for once! I had put in a $20 and lo and behold, I'd increased my assets by a little, totalling $50 from that one twenty I'd put in. Instead of behaving sensibly, like I'd told myself I'd try to do, I figure what the hay, maybe I can turn that fifty into a hundred! Here I am, wearing a very proud grin as I wait for the machine to finish counting up my last win:

So things are going fine (if you overlook the fact that I only have a dollar left to my name, at least as far as the casino is concerned) and we're all having a great time. This one machine we keep coming back to. It's pretty fun. It's called "Poppit".

Now I really don't know much, okay anything, about gambling, but I know that I can press buttons as good as anybody I know, so this game totally appeals to me. But I guess at some point during my avid button-pressing, I offend the leprechauns dwelling inside, because the next thing I know, the machine stops working...

 

I wasn't quite sure what to do, so Megan took it upon herself to track down an employee. Of course as soon as she walked away, someone else came and fixed my machine. And since I had pretty much no cell signal (Thanks AT&T for raising the bar!), I couldn't call her to let her know I'd found someone, or rather that someone had found me, so she eventually returned with someone who was likely not too thrilled to arrive only after the problem was solved.

But still!

It was, all in all, a fantastic time! I tried something new, something I'd never done, and it was a blast. I'm no where near wealthy enough (or irresponsible enough) to gamble very often, but I'd definitely go back. 

So there, that's my little pat on the back for seeing one of my New Years Reso's come to pass. 

Spontaneity. Thou art achieved.

Project Resolution

In an attempt to actually realize all of the goals I've set for myself--and to know when to break out the champagne and celerate victory-- I am enacting a little something I'm calling Project Resolution.

Project Resolution will be a series of posts, each for a different New Years resolution I've accomplished.

From now until, really, the end of the year I suppose, each time I meet one of my goals or do something that gets me closer to aforementioned goal, there will be a new Project Resolution post. Complete with which resolution has been met.

So, ta-da! This is my plan for reaching my goals. I have high hopes that it will succeed.

Only time will tell.

To be continued...