It was more than just a grandson and his grandmother, but be sure I never once called her my grandmother, she was Brit. We had this connection that is hard to put into words. Brit and I understood each other. Maybe it was mostly me just saying Yes Ma’am and doing what she said, but she knew what I needed even more than I did sometimes. I was always made fun of because I was the favorite, but I just always liked being with her so I didn’t mind. I was a box boy on Main Street, an honorary member of the Westside Garden Club, and an “Andy let’s go do this” (for lack of better words) person for many years. Most importantly though, I was Brit’s grandson. Many might not know what they were missing, but I can only hope to live up to the title.
On June 1st, I lost more than just Brit. I lost my place to get away from the world. I lost my place to forget about the bad in my life and usually slip into a Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy coma. I lost my Sunday morning writing time (well she took full credit for my writing if anyone wondered) and the place I felt like whatever I wrote was ok because she told me it was. Over the last few years the scenery and the chairs changed, but the location was irrelevant. It was just about being with her.
Over the years my time with Brit took me more places than I can even remember, stupid me should have written them all down. The whole point of it is it didn’t matter what we were doing, it was just the company that mattered. The only consolation to her passing is she’s up there with Penelope teaching her all the things she taught me. That’s just fine by me.
There will never be anyone to ever replace her, not that anyone should ever try. You might get close, but she’d let you know where you fell short right after she told you what you did well.
I can’t write everything I want to say about Brit, but over the next little while I hope to write about things that she taught me over the years. Most won’t care or understand, and I’m still trying to figure a lot of it out, but the point is it doesn’t need to be lost. Brit’s wisdom never fails. She always said what needed to be said, even if I didn’t want to hear it. I’ll try to do it justice, but I’m sure she could say it better herself.
