Today is your birthday. The first you’re celebrating in heaven. I imagine today is filled with a sunrise walk along the beach searching for sand dollars followed by warm Belgium waffles for breakfast. I imagine today is filled with taking time to look down on the great grandkids, your lips wide and the corners turned upward just beaming with pride. I imagine the lobster claws are meatier than ever and the butter (never margarine) is more buttery than fathomable. I imagine you reading the newspaper while rocking on a swing and that story after story is good news. I imagine you’re singing boldly in the most magnificent kitchen cooking up meatballs and slathering barbecue sauce on baby back ribs. I imagine you befriended a little girl…that you’ve put her hair in pincurls and that you’re decorating gingerbread boys together, just like we used to.
Nana, I try to be strong because you were the toughest woman I’ve ever known.
I try to be patient because you showed resiliency and graceful tolerance like no other.
I try to be well read because you instilled in me the importance of a solid education.
I try to be compassionate because you showed me what it was like to love the “unlovable”.
I try to be a good friend and neighbor because you demonstrated that relationships made you richer than gold.
I try to be balanced because you somehow seemed to keep priorities in check.
I try to be thoughtful because you knew the power of a handwritten note.
I try to be kind because you taught me that even when the world was ugly I didn’t have to be.
I try to be nurturing because you provided the very best example of what it meant to love your family.
I try to be a good Christian because I cannot wait to kiss your face again.
Nana, there is not a day that goes by that I don’t miss you and there are moments that I think are so impossibly hard without you in them. But then I remember you have the best view of all. I remember that you have never left my side. I remember that you never will.
Happy Birthday, Nana. I love you, forever.
Love,
Cole Lee
HEATHFAMILYEXPERIENCE 