Mommom

She was called "Mommom" I think as a parallel to "Poppop." Coincidentally, only "Pop" stuck for my grandfather, but "Mommom" was never anything else to her seven grandchildren.  And fittingly so.  Pop pronounced it as "Mom" repeated: "Mom-Mom," but we always say it more like "Mummum" - I think it's more endearing that way.  

Now that I'm thinking about it though... "Mom-Mom" carries the perfect connotation for my grandmother; she was an amazing mom to four daughters, but she was double that to a generation of seven more.  

In the few short elementary years that I knew her I loved her more than most.  I don't remember much from before the first grade, but this I know.  She must have been a massively significant part of my early childhood with the way the few memories I have of her seem to make appearances constantly. 

 I remember her blue night gown. 

Her tiny smile and the huge way it lit up a room. 

 The way my mother and aunts sought her advice for everything and more. 

The sweet smell of her chair - it was right next to Pop's, offset from the TV, but still the best seat in the house. 

The wig she resented.

 The cancer that required it. 

 How beautiful she was in spite of it all.  

I was too young to know it at the time, but I'm certain she was the glue that held her family together.  

Actually, I think she still is.

When she passed, each of her daughters received a piece of her lily plant.  To this day, it blooms only when we need her most.  Aunt Doe's bloomed the night before her wedding last month. Ours? Our plant has two full blooms and one blossom on its way. The past month has been beyond stressful, and our beautiful flower is definitely an indicator of that fact.  Stress and sadness is part of life, and I know that. But knowing we have an angel looking out for us puts me slightly more at ease. 

I don't always put my faith in 'Guardian Angels' but it's small beauties like these that remind me we're not alone.  A presence in an absence truly is a beautiful thing.  I'll never stop missing my grandparents but I don't think they want me to.