Grandma Read

We've heard the very sad news today that Grandma Read is gone. She was diagnosed with cancer about 4 months ago, and that dreaded disease took her "home" today.

Losing someone you love is never easy. Our place across the ocean at this time makes it just a little more of a sting, I must admit. The kids upon hearing the news were moved to tears at the reality of loss. Mason set about making a little memorial to "GGR" (Great Grandma Read), and Madi wrote her a letter. We all moved a little bit slower, and hugged a little bit more.



My memories of Grandma Read are full of her laughter and her talents. As a girl I recall visiting her home in Arizona. I remember gifts she and Grandpa brought from their many travels abroad; a porcelain creamer from Holland, an Apron from Europe. I recall falling on her back porch and landing in the emergency room (I must have been only 4 or 5?) and upon showing her the stitches I earned from the event, She showered me with her hugs as we sat on the sofa in her home. I remember vaguely swimming in the swimming pool of their ranch house in Tucson, and I have even stronger memories of their other home – the one without the pool, which I visited several times as an older girl and teenager. While in their home it seemed Grandma was always in the middle of planning a huge event. Catering a wedding, organizing a women's conference or preparing for a party, the phone was constantly ringing for Grandma's advice or direction; she was the ultimate party planner of her day.

Grandma and Grandpa it seemed were regular roadsters, making their way from Arizona to Utah two or three times a year. It was a welcome site to see their car pull up into our driveway; my aunt Rosemary usually entering the house first to announce their grand arrival.

Grandma was a vibrant soul. A strong individual with a love for people and a memory of who they are and who they are related to. I found this a tad embarrassing as a teenager when she could "connect" any of my high school friends to someone I'd never heard of that she'd been in sorority with or known through their many moves over the years. When Grandma traveled to Utah for a diagnosis of her cancer it overwhelmed me how many people phoned my mom to find out how Audrey was faring. Only then did it come to me that all those people Grandma had spoken about for all those years weren't just names, but they were friends, and they were good friends who loved and cherished this jolly and talented woman. I thought of our own Christmas card list, 300 addresses strong for all the adventures in all the places we've lived, and I felt akin to my Grandma in a new way as she heard from old neighbors and dear friends who were most certainly atop her Christmas card list, and had been for many many years gone by.

At her passing Grandma, I'm confident, enjoyed a lovely reunion with her mom, my Great Grandma Carter; and a tender and sweet meeting of her father who passed away when Grandma was only a tiny girl. While my sorrow is real for her passing, I truly could imagine her joy at seeing her parents again, and re-acquainting herself with the many friends and family who I'm sure were waiting to welcome her home. We will feel her absence in our lives and are sad to see her leave us. But, I must be clear, I know I will see her again, and when I do I hope I can make a good report of what I've done with the legacy of talent, friendship and faith she's left me and all her posterity. I miss you already Grandma. I love you.