Sunday, October 19, 2008

Zoe's great grandmother

Zoe's great Grandmother (Gavin's grandma) died this weekend, at the age of 91 (I think). She had been ill a long time, so it was not unexpected, and apparently she went peacefully in her sleep. She lived in Davidson's Mains in Edinburgh until she was around 77, in the same house my dad and two aunts grew up in. The first memory I have is from the garden of that house when I was two. For the last 14 years or so she lived with my aunt Muriel, uncle Walter and cousin Zoe in Surrey, England.

We were lucky enough to get over there last year with our Zoe (or wee Zoe, as she is known to that side of the family) last year. Zoe was 6 months old at the time. My grandmother was still in somewhat good health (though rapidly declining) and she enjoyed visiting with her great grandaughter (her "bonny wee babbitty") immensely. I can't say I knew my grandma well, owing mainly to the fact that Scotland is quite a long way away from Canada, but I am very glad that she was able to meet Zoe and that they could spend some time together. It meant a lot to everyone involved, I think (though Zoe looks a little mystified, to be quite honest).

This video is, I guess, my tribute to my Grandma. She was a spunky old lady- I think there can be no argument about that. She lived a grand old life, and I'll miss just knowing she is there. I'm posting this video in the hope my family can see it, and remember how happy Grandma was to see her "wee Zoe".

The music is "Flower of Scotland"- this version by a band called Runrig. The other lady in the video is my cousin Zoe, who is only a few months younger then I am and a charming young women who was also absolutely thrilled to see "wee Zoe".

4 comments:

Kimberly Whitaker said...

I am sorry to hear about your Grandmother. This was one of the sweetest videos. Thanks for sharing it!
Kim and Abbie

altavt0001 said...

What a beautiful tribute to your Grandmother. Sorry to hear of your loss.

Diane Ianni
Grammie to Sammie Bartlett and Mom to Shannon

theknownames said...

I am sorry to hear of your loss. I have no idea how to ask questions or contact you other than by leaving this comment. Our diagnosis is new and we were told that it is so rare and that there is no information available, after 2 days on-line I find out it is a syndrome and there was a conference. Thank you for your time and for your blog.

Genevieve Ross said...

To "theknownames," there is not a whole lot of info out there, but we have found connecting with other families to be very helpful. You can join the Yahoo group by following the link on the blog listed "Yahoo support group." It is on the right hand side at the bottom of the other links listed. We did not find other families until Zoe was 6 months old. We were so relieved to finally connect with other people since we had so little information from our doctors. Good luck with your search and please let us know if we can be any help to you. We have found other people's blogs so helpful, so we hope you find the same of ours.