She was my grandmother, but she was so much more than that. She was my mom's mom, my grandpa's partner. She was reckless, responsible, intelligent, fun, crazy, fantastic. She was someone I will always look up to. I'm so glad Laurie wrote her stories down because I know that there are so many more than the ones that I have in my head, but I love the ones I have in my head because they mean so much to me. I love that she told me about climbing a mountain (possibly multiple) because it reminded me of her adventurous spirit and that she would go after whatever she wanted. I didn't get to spend much time there, but visiting her at her Microbiology lab when I was younger (like 6, so the following sentences are not the most educated) was the coolest thing ever. She had carbon (magic) paper, that would copy things she typed, and she typed stuff on this old school typewriter. She helped people, they came to her office with questions or things she needed to look at and she just helped them because it was her job. She could look at things super close with her microscope and grow stuff by putting those plates in her warmy thingy (I remind you I was 6) She was so smart and she loved science so much and even from a young age she shared that love with me through her lab, books, and just teaching me things whenever she could. Beyond that there was the fact that she loved women's basketball, and so I still have a T-shirt from when the Portland Fire WNBA team existed because she took me to games, and she loved it because she played basketball and as she likes to say she "played before Title IX existed" I can't stand gingerbread cookies because they always seem to be overcooked and the flavor isn't that good and they just aren't my favorite but every year I HAD HAD HAD to make the traditional gingerbread cookies with Grandma because it was what we did, and the one year we couldn't make them at the house she bought me a pre-made set and we decorated them at her office just so we could say that we had done gingerbread cookies. One of the newer but unbelievably special memories that I have now, is when she told me (after I received my bid card) that she was a Xi Omega at Willamette because that is what her older sister was, but that she really wanted to be a Delta Gamma. It is so special to me that we share that and that I was able to join Delta Gamma at Willamette.
These memories and so many more are what I have to cling to now that she is gone. I sit here with tears in my eyes remembering what a great woman she was and how much she means to me. She was always so full of life, spirit and love for everyone. I love her dearly and miss her daily and wrote this tribute to her as a way to express my feelings for her.
