Aging with Grace

Grandparents can be very special resources. Just being close to them reassures a child, without words, about change and continuity, about what went before and what will come after.

Fred Rogers

Seeing Queen Elizabeth brought back memories of my grandmother. They both had a sparkle in their eyes that was reassuring. You knew when you saw them that whatever it was, they had it under control. The truth is even if they did not have it under control, they were never going to admit that to you. It was a presence I have never been able to emulate.

I had the good fortune of living with my grandparents through my childhood. They were my rock. My grandmother was my role model from whom I learned empathy, honesty, creativity, integrity and loyalty. She was very good at keeping her own counsel and was in many ways a very private person. Okay, maybe that isn’t a quality I inherited.

This autumn the passing of Queen Elizabeth and memories of my grandmother are tied together with reading, September by Rosamunde Pilcher. It is one of those books that is on my shelf because I continue to read it, year after year. It’s a fall tradition. One of the reasons Rosamunde Pilcher is a treasured author of mine, is her use of characters. Many of her books contain a grandmotherly figure I immediately related to. This year there is added significance because the story takes place in Scotland, near Edinburgh. The author has the ability to write in a way that surrounds you with all the sites and sounds of the setting. Violet Arid’s concern for her children and grandchildren remind me of my grandmother. No matter how many times I have read it, I’m swept away by the story. I never tire of it.