Puzzles

My Grama C (aka Grma Shorty, Grama Graham Cracker, Grammy) passed away in September 2006. It was a tough time for my family, and the fact that she didn't want a service made it harder for us to get closure. It was something we all had to figure out how to do on our own.

I decided that I would celebrate my Gram's life by buying a special puzzle and putting it together in her honor. It was something we loved to do together. In fact, there were several things that were special in our family. I'm sure they're all pretty generic in peoples' lives, but for the sake of my story, I'm making it feel like it's special for us.

First, besides jigsaw puzzles, there's Penny Press. My mom and I both LOVE to do these books. She orders boxes of these puzzle books and splits them up for us and we sit and do crosswords and all sorts of other word puzzles. My sister and brother both like to do these books too and enjoy soduko puzzles. Is it soduko? Sudoku? I don't remember, but you know what I mean.

Then there's Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. Every night you could find my Grama watching these shows. Even now my husband and I record Jeopardy every night and watch every episode. I think I'm getting smarter from watching it. I'm also finding that there are some really dorky people in the world and they chose to tell their stories on this show. Seriously, no one gives a crap if you have twelve cats and one's name is - get this - FLUFFY!

The main thing that is special between my Gram and me was a simple little card game that I invented when I was four. It was called, "If you get a two you win." It was really easy. Basically, the first person to have a two dealt to them won. My grammy would play this with me for hours on end, ever patient with the hyper four year old that I was.

She was something special and on quiet afternoons I find myself thinking about her. I think it's about time I pick out a puzzle and put it together. Now if only I can keep my kids from eating the pieces.