Precious moments

"spend precious moments with the ones that i hold dear...

make up for lost time here...in my next 30 years"

-tim mcgraw

you know when you're in the middle of a moment that can only be described as precious?  i used to make fun of those figurines, but i have to say, that sam butcher was onto something.  the last line of his bio on the PM website says, "Nothing means more to him than his children and grandchildren, and he takes advantage of every opportunity to make them an active part of his life and his work."  change "him" to "her", and that pretty much sums up my grandma.

i had the joy and privilege to spend a little bit of time with her last week when my bridesmaid duties took me down to virginia and i was able to sneak in just under 48 hours with the woman who gave birth to the woman who gave birth to me.  we didn't do anything grand.  lots of talking.  some eating.  some drinking hot beverages.  some work outside.  some praying.  but mostly just lots of talking.  precious moments.  it's amazing how just being in her presence fills my spirit.

at one point she was talking about her life and how she hasn't done much of great significance.  "i was born, i lived, someday i'll die", she said to me.  two things about that simple sentence stood out to me.  first, my grandma is the most humble person ever to walk this planet.  she is the absolute embodiment of mother teresa's belief that we can't do great things - only small things with great love.  second, when my grandma says she lived, she means it.  that woman has traveled the world.  she raised a family.  she singlehandedly keeps jesus, mary, and all the saints busy as can be with all her prayers.  she plants and harvests and shares an abundance every year.  she painstakingly de-shells crab meat and de-bones turkey meat for crabcakes and soup and makes the most amazing spaghetti sauce and raw apple cake.  she is 87 years old and has somehow managed to find the balance between doing as she pleases and doing for others.  she takes better care of herself than most 30-somethings i know.  in her neck of the woods, she is known as the local angel because of her perpetual kindness and generosity.

i can only hope to have inherited some of the wonderfulness that is my grandma.  in the meantime, i will continue to soak up the precious moments, however few and far between they may be.