Me and my grandmother (this is a version of the text I wrote for my grandma Ethel's 90th birthday memory book and I meant to post it on her birthday October 9th)

We met for the first in England when I was three. I was still quite small and shy. At that time I looked up to Christopher Robin and had never tasted orange pop. I was really confused when I was told instead of having supper we were going to have Tea and I didn’t even drink tea. Now I mostly remember the photos and the stories more than actually being there, but it was a great visit.

The next time I saw her was when she and Grandpa Willis came to visit us in Canada. They were the busiest guests that have ever stayed at our house because they were always trying to do something to help us. They did things like cooking us delicious meals with Yorkshire pudding, digging up tree roots in the garden and building us our picnic table. It was sad to see them go.

We never really felt she was far because of her faithful correspondence. Thanks to grandma we have an impressive collection of Blue British Airletter envelopes. I think she could win an award for having written the most amount of letters in our family.

The next time we saw each other was in England just after I turned eighteen. We had the best guide in all of Sheffield. Not only were our bus trips planned and often paid for, but sometime strangers would come up to us with a question and it seemed like she always knew how to tell them what bus they should take. When she told us stories about the past I would imagine her training as a nurse in Leeds, working in hospitals during the Second World War and running a hospital in Delisle. I am very proud of everything my grandmother has done.

I wonder what it’s like to turn ninety, to have so many memories and to have collected such a large family. For me the best I can do is to imagine three times my life at this point. Is today what you once imagined what the future would be like? What was the best moment of all those years?

Whenever I have gone to Sheffield my visit is filled with bus trips, Scrabble games, art galleries, British telly, shows in the theatre, meals of fish & chips at the pub and so much more. My grandmother and my British family are tireless hosts.

I feel special to have such an amazing grandmother. She is a brave, adventurous, independent, caring, open minded, fun-loving, super-organized, cheerful, wonderful person. I can only hope to live as long and rich a life to be more like her.