So these were the Grandma Peggy years. These were the years my Mom warned me about. She always said when I was a kid giving her trouble, “I can’t wait till you have kids and I am a Grandma, I am going to say ‘I Told You So!’ and spoil my Grandkids silly”

The great thing about those 17 years is she was given the opportunity to be a grandmother.

She watch all the little league baseball games,

and all the many basketball games,

many great Holidays, many great dinners at her house. From when the kids were tiny, till they were humongous…up until the High School and College years. She attended the kids many graduations,

and the many school functions (those Christmas carol nights at middle school), the Baptisms, the Holy Communions,

and always insisted we go with her to Mass on Christmas and Easter Sundays. The last time we all went to church together was Easter Sunday 2011, and I remember my Mom complementing how good the Mass was (not something she often did, but she was right, it was exceptional).

The last game she attended was Sarah’s for a High School Varsity Holiday tournament championship. Sarah was feeling some anxiety, about the game and other things. My Mom explained to me she completely understood what Sarah was going through. She told Sarah that night the same thing. Somehow they understood each other in a way I couldn’t understand I guess.

The next last big cool memory of my Mom, was after I got home from my last long east coast trip. I called her on the way from the airport, as I know she always complains about me not calling (hey, my Mom always got a call from me on average 1 or 2 phones calls a week, all my life – I always thought that was pretty good)

Well, I called her on the phone when Kelly picked me up at the San Jose airport this past December the week before the Holidays. I said I was sorry i didn’t call while gone. I told her Pittsburg was gorgeous and she should see it (she hated Pittsburg in the old days) and she asked a a bunch of questions about the trip. Somehow wanting (as usual) to tell her all the major highlights of the trip and the characters involved – I told her everything in a nutshell anticipating all her talk show host like questions – and apologized to her I had to go because we were almost home and I was dead tired and wanted to go to sleep. She understood…said bye, and “I’m just glad you’re home safe, now I can relax”.