Irish Eyes are Smiling: For Grandma

Hello friends. I'm writing this post with a heavy heart. What started out as a joyful weekend quickly took a different course early Saturday morning. J and Gus and I were out at the lake when we got the call that my grandmother's health had taken a turn for the worse. She's been in a home for the past few years and has been slowly deteriorating in mental capacity. At 94 years old, she had lived many lives over. We made it back to the city in time to say one last goodbye, say one last I love you and give her one last kiss on the forehead. She slipped away peacefully late last night.

my auntie Terry, my mom, me and Grandma

I'm sad to have lost her, but if anyone has qualified to get into heaven and deserves to enjoy it - it is my Grandma Bruneau. Born Catherine Corrigan in Ireland in 1917, she met my Canadian grandfather during the war and moved to Canada to raise her family of 5 children, including my mom Norah, the youngest. She went on to have 14 grandchildren (we all grew up fairly close to each other) and now many great-grandchildren.

She was an ever-present Grandmother. She lives in all my childhood memories due to her frequent visits up north to see us and our many trips to Winnipeg to visit her and my grandpa. She was - in one word - joyful. Humour was her weapon, defence and charm of choice. She always had a joke and could always laugh at herself. She lightened up tense situations and made us all take ourselves a little less seriously. A devout Irish Catholic - she shunned judgement for love, acceptance and forgiveness. She was truly a special lady.

She was a girly-girl's grandma. We had tea parties for hours in her basement, using only the finest china and drinking cup after cup of irish tea (a bit of tea with lots of milk and heaps of sugar). She let me play in her make-up and she was never seen without her Amway rose cream blush. In fact, on the morning she passed, she work struggling to breath, about to take her morphine and the only words that came out were 'make-up...' This makes me smile - as I too can only imagine getting through my life struggles with a little blusher to make me feel more confident.

Grandma, you will be so so missed. I love you. I thank you for being the best grandmother a little girl could ask for. Let's still talk often - okay?