Daffodils

This past weekend Orange Seed met a very important person - his/her Dran. Dran is Chris' grandmother, she is his father's mother, and she is my friend. Since the first time I met Dran, nearly 10 years ago, I have felt that she I had a bond. We share a love of poetry, of beauty, and of all things wondrous. We are both fascinated by this ever-changing world we live in and we both desire to continue to learn and to experience new things. From the first time she recited, from memory, her favorite poem, I knew I was going to love her and, indeed, over the past ten years, I have come to love her as much as if she were my own grandmother.

In January 2009, Dran turned 100 years old. 100 years old. She wore sparkling party clothes to a celebration attended by all of her closest friends and family and though her energy level had waned somewhat in the months preceding the party, she was wide awake on that day in January, smiling at every one of her guests and recounting stories of her adult life, childhood, and every stage in between. Guests told stories of her life - how she used to hop the train to neighboring towns and cities in Georgia, just to see what they might hold; how she once took a trip to NYC when she was in college and how she painted the town red; how she married her husband, who came from a far poorer family and was never really suitable in the eyes of her family, despite what anyone else thought; and she herself told a story about relatives she had known who had at one point traveled by covered wagon. Dran is an amazing person. At a time when it was exceedingly rare for women to go to college, she went on to study at Duke University. At an age when most people would have given up on trying to learn the newest electronic advances, she was genuinely fascinated by our iPods and by video games. And though she only saw me once or twice a year, she always had the biggest warmest hug for me and would tell me she loved me in words that would melt the heart.

Over the past few weeks, Dran has seemed to be settling down to leave this world. Last week things seemed to be taking even more of a turn for the worst and so we flew down to see her. I don't think that we went to say goodbye. Rather, I think we went to say "we love you" to a woman who has meant so much to all of us. Knowing full well that she might not be aware enough to understand, I also wanted a chance to introduce Orange Seed to his/her Great Grandmother. I wonder sometimes what Orange Seed will be like and I hope that he/she will have bits of the amazing people who will have passed on before Orange Seed was able to know them. I hope that Orange Seed will have my Papa Spatz's determination, strength, contagious laugh, and ability to love. I hope that Orange Seed will have Dran's enthusiasm, lust for life, curiosity, and appreciation of the simple magics the world has to offer. As much as I know Chris and I will never be able to fully describe these people for Orange Seed, I do hope that we will tell enough stories that maybe Orange Seed will at least know that he/she is descended from an amazing line of people.

After 100 years of living life to the fullest, it is hard to say that I don't want Dran to go. I think she has earned a peaceful passage onto a place where she can rejoin her husband, her siblings, her parents, and all the other people who went on before her, as she continued to live such a long, amazing life. I like to think that she is at peace with the possibility of going on - that it is merely moving on for her, not an ending or any kind.

We love you, Dran. And we are so thankful that Orange Seed was able to meet the incredible woman who helped show his/her parents what it feels like to love and be loved.