Today my grandma, Jeane A. Mayhoffer, turned 88. She is such a wonderful person in general, but especially a wonderful grandma. You might ask what makes her so wonderful (besides the fact that all grandmothers are wonderful in one way or another). Well, I will tell you. She never had any kids of her own. She met and married my Grandpa a few years after my mom's mom passed away. She moved away from her beloved California to be with him and his three kids (my mom and her two brothers) in Colorado. I'll be honest here; I don't know the whole story. For that I would have to ask either my sister (the family historian) or my mom or Grandma herself. I will tell you what I do know. Any time we grandkids would come to visit (usually in the summer) Grandma would spoil us rotten, but not so much that we'd go home with the "I wants". She would always send birthday cards and Christmas cards and sometimes presents other times of the year. When I decided to move to Colorado for Graduate school Grandma supported me 100%. In fact she has supported me and all of my siblings in furthering our educations. Without her help I never would have been able to focus so much on school and get my MLIS in just under 2 years. On top of it all, she took care of my grandpa til the day he passed away. He was beginning to suffer from Alzheimer's among other health issuses and was not the most pleasent person to be around at times. Yet she was always there for him. When he passed away in March of 2008 we all worried about how grandma would hold up. But Grandma has turned her focus on her children (she still calls them and their spouses "the kids") and grandchildren and even great grandchildren. She is always asking what she can do for us while we beg her for ways we can help her. When we go out for dinner for a special occasion we have to insist on paying but usually she wins the argument. If you try to over rule her and pay when she's not looking she will run down the waiter and pay instead (she did that once when my uncle tried to pay for a birthday dinner).
So, while she is no actual blood relation to me the relationship we have in many ways is stronger than blood. She is my Grandma. I was named for her. I am glad to be able to tell people that I have such a wonderful grandma and that we are the pair of Jeanes in the family. I'm glad I'll be spending Thanksgiving this year with her and other family members. She makes family gatherings so much better. I love you, Grandma!
It's not the best picture of her, but it's the best one I have right now. This was taken when we visited Grandpa's grave a year after his passing. You can tell she misses him.
