My Winter With Grandma

My grandma retired long ago in Ocean Shores, Washington, where she lived in a cedar shake beach house by the sea. Her house had stunning views of the grass dunes and sunsets, and different seabirds were always seen flying by. Her home was filled with treasures that she had found over the years while beachcombing. She had glass floats of different colors and sizes, jars filled with agates, and windows lined with Japanese sake bottles. She kept the original vintage light fixtures and tiles in the home from the 1970s, and her incredible art collection hung on the original wood paneled walls. Her house was a beautiful gem, and I was always happy to be there as it was the most comfortable place in the world!

Grandma always lived a very healthy lifestyle. She ate good food, walked the beach with her dogs for exercise, and rested when she felt tired. Grandma was also an animal lover. She donated to animal charities, volunteered at North Beach Paws, and rescued tired sea birds that washed in on the beach. She was so beautiful and kind, and she was very healthy in her old age until Parkinson’s made her life hard to manage on her own.

I was living and working in Arizona as an eyebrow artist at Benefit Cosmetics. I was very good at my job and my clients were very loyal to me because of that. I also enjoyed working on the side as a makeup artist. I was in my mid 30s and physically at my most beautiful. I was on my way to making a great and comfortable life for myself. Then grandma called me one day and asked me to come and live with her in Washington, because she was having a hard time living alone with Parkinson’s. I immediately left my job, locked the doors to my house in Arizona, and moved in with grandma.

I came during the winter months, and the weather at the beach was cold and stormy. Much different than the winter weather that I was used to in Arizona! A huge windstorm on the coast happened during the first weekend that I was there. Grandma’s beach house laid low to the ground and was built to withstand bad weather, and this storm was very strong. The wind blasted the outside of the house creating a haunting “contralto opera voice” like sound on the inside accompanied by flickering lights. I felt like I was living in the tornado scene from the Wizard of Oz!

But my fear of the weather was the least of my worries, because I had no idea when I came that my grandma was now so old and sick. On the first morning that I was there, I was watching the storm from her dining room window when I heard a loud thump come from her bedroom. I rushed to check on her and discovered that she had fallen on her way to the bathroom. When I tried to pick her up, she felt like dead weight in my arms and her eyes rolled back in her head. I laid her on the carpet and told her that I was going to call 911. She was able to mumble “no don’t, it’s only my blood pressure”. I was so scared that I called 911 anyway. When the paramedics arrived, they rushed back into grandma’s bedroom. They determined it was an issue with her blood pressure and helped put grandma back in bed. They left soon after, and I just stood there alone in my bathrobe stunned by what had just happened.

Grandma would constantly shake from Parkinson’s, especially when she was worried. Her blood pressure often caused her to fall when she stood up, so I would pick her up and we would carry on with our day. We had a lovely time together though. While there, I learned how to make her hot tea just as she liked it. For my birthday, she made me corned beef hash using the KitchenAid Mixer. We also took one last walk together to her cedar bench in the dunes. Though we didn’t make it all the way to the beach as planned, we still had a lovely view of the ocean while sitting at her bench.

Grandma passed away on Christmas Day of last year, and her beach house was sold and remodeled to look more modern. Her old cedar bench is still in the dunes and her ashes were scattered under it. I can still walk to the bench on a sunny day to sit and visit with her. I talk to her like she is there sitting at her spot next to me on the bench. I tell her my worries and imagine the advice that she would give. Grandma always gave me the best advice. Nobody has ever loved me more than my grandma did, and the world feels so big now that she has passed.