Requiem Aeternam Dona Ei, Domine

'Puter's grandmother died this past weekend, 15 days shy of her 101st birthday. As such, 'Puter will be heading home to attend the funeral. Don't expect a lot of blogging out of him for the next few days.

In the course of speaking with his siblings over the last few days, 'Puter heard his grandmother was paid one of the highest tributes anyone can be paid. In the well-put words of 'Puter's sister:

Another thing I learned from Granny's lady friends and caretakers at [name of assisted care facility] is that she was universally admired for never having a bad word to say about anyone. Always positive and kind. One old lady told me, very seriously, that "Your grandmother is very, very special because if she doesn't have something nice to say, she doesn't say anything at all." Mom also confirms that all her life Granny never gossiped, which strikes me as an incredibly rare gift. From my experiences with Granny, I've known her to be an emotionally strong woman, happy and positive, who seemed never to get embarrassed by anything, always smiling and laughing, complimenting others, never dwelling on herself, her problems, or the hard times in life. I'd describe her as social and gregarious and fun-loving. She loved to play pool and watch golf on TV (and tell me that golf is a wonderful sport that all girls should pick up), she volunteered as a clown (and made [third husband (she outlived three and one fiance)] do it too), she was always involved in everything, as a leader. She loved chocolate and coffee ice cream and sunflowers, and she always took pleasure in the little things in life. I'd attribute her long life almost entirely to her positive attitude.

'Puter hopes that can live up to his Granny's example, physically, mentally and spiritually. Hopefully, we can all learn something from 'Puter's Granny's example.