I do not typically use this blog as a space for personal posts. However, I am making an exception for this post because today is my grandmother’s birthday and I would like honor her because I miss her so much. My grandmother was one of the most amazing  people I have ever known. She was selfless beyond imagination. She made everything magical. She provided my cousins and I with more amazing memories than I could ever retell in a blog post. I loved her cooking so much. She was so smart and so creative. She made beautiful quilts and paintings and she made them for the people she loved. She was incredibly active and she loved to garden. She drove a Toyota Tacoma because it was “fun to drive” and she also drove a mini van because she liked to shop for antiques. I loved it when she’d say, “Oh foot!”.  I loved everything about her.

A year ago, in August, I was flown home to West Virginia to photograph the wedding of Winter & Evan. Their wedding was the day before my grandmother’s birthday. My grandmother had no idea that I was coming home for this wedding because I wanted to surprise her for her birthday celebration. The wedding was in Ohio, about 2 hours from my grandparent’s farm. So, the morning of her birthday, as my sister and I drove to the farm from Ohio, the rest of my family started arriving for the party. We planned it so that all the people she expected to arrive were  there first. Then, my cousin Laura, who lives a few hours away and wasn’t expected that day, arrived and surprised grandmother. She was so happy and having Laura there made the day even better. When my sister and I finally reached our destination, I got out of the car and waited on the road out of sight of the house. Grandmother was not expecting Julie either, because she lives in New York City. So, Julie drove up the driveway without me and gave grandmother another special surprise. I was too excited to wait very long, so it was only a few minutes later that I walked into the busy kitchen and tried to blend in with the family unnoticed. When grandmother spotted me we were both pretty much speechless and just kept hugging. It was a pretty special day and one that I will never forget.

The next day grandmother was diagnosed with Stage 4 stomach cancer and very sadly she died just a few days before I arrived home for Christmas that same year. This is the family photo that I took on her birthday:

I miss her so much. Grandmother just had a way of making everything better.