My Last Grandparent

Last Friday my grandma Mrs. Madge Davis passed away.....I called her "Ma-Ma". She was 88 years old....and a hell raiser for most of those 88 years. She had been a farm wife for many years, and a widow since 1971. She loved fancy clothes and dressing fine. In it's day, her little trailer was pretty nice. It was white with red trim, and there was a carport to shelter her pretty red Chevrolet. Inside the trailer was red carpet, and red drapes........red was her favorite color. She always kept cookies in a tea pot shaped, green cookie jar. And she made the best cakes in the world. We never left without Lemon Cheese cake; Coconut cake (pink and white layers with divinity icing); Yellow cake with chocolate icing that had crushed pecans in it. And her fudge and divinity couldn't be beat. I try to make it like her, but haven't gotten there yet. She didn't believe in a candy thermometer, and when I mentioned having one, she told me to "throw the shittin' thing out". She was impatient, demanding, and a hypochondriac. But she was also giving and generous to a fault. If she had five dollars in the bank, you could have it if you asked. She would give you the shirt off her back. She loved her children more than anything, and I think in her own way she loved me. MaMa worked at the 76 Truckstop over 30 years. Even when she was going blind, she still drove to work at the truckstop. She was always up by 5 every morning, many times baking cakes for friends or baking to make a few extra dollars. It was nothing for her to have 50 cakes in the freezer.
By the time she went to an assisted living home, she was getting in bad shape. She had a badly mangled arm, was nearly blind and deaf, then developed Alzheimer's Disease. All the time she had it in her mind that she was going back to her trailer.....she loved that place. And she was always proud of being a Dooly County resident. A couple of weeks ago her kidneys began to fail, and that was the end. She lasted a lot longer than anyone ever thought she would. I know she could make some visits miserable, but right now I'm remembering happy times. I've thought about dirty jokes she told me, and how she went to see Porky's when it first came out. She told me about the bad scenes in the movie and threw her head back laughing. I've thought about her cussing and demanding every one to get in the kitchen and eat some "bah-b-que". She was a mess and I will miss her. She was my last grandparent......she held out a long time. I'm sure it was pure stubbornness. I hope where ever she is that she knows we love her and hope she can calm down now and rest in peace.