Here's a hint:


Yup, that's my beautiful grandmother. Isn't she lovely? She's so graceful and elegant and teeny tiny. I feel like a big ol' buffalo compared to her- but that's not really important, now, is it? The important thing is that I found her two years ago and now I have a grandmother to call my own.

I was really sad that it was such a short visit, but we had work to attend to and the flight options weren't very good. We left at 9:30 pm Friday night and got on a plane at 5:30 a.m. this morning, so there was just one day to spend together.

Before we got there, I had a bit of an issue. It's kind of hilarious, and definitely blog-worthy.

We stopped at Starbucks on our way to visit my grandmother. Not being familiar with this car since it was a rental, I didn't understand that perhaps I should be careful about the door potentially shutting itself on my hand. There I was with one hand holding my iced vente americano, the other on top of the door as I sat down. Then bang- the door shut on my hand and it was stuck.

Sure, I could have dropped the coffee to give myself a hand free to open the door myself, but:
A: What a mess that would have made in the rental car
B: What a waste of good coffee
C: I could have gotten coffee all over myself

I chose instead, to cry out to the bearded eye-roller, "My hand is stuck in the door and I can't open it." BER moved faster than I've seen him move in a long time and freed my hand from the door.

In case you're wondering, that didn't feel very good- but I could NOT stop laughing. It was pretty embarrassing to admit that I'd rather keep my hand in the door than drop the precious coffee.

The visit with my grandmother was lovely. My aunt and cousin were there when we showed up, but said that they wanted my grandmother to spend time alone with us- so suggested we take her for lunch while they visited my other aunt.

Before leaving for the restaurant, my grandmother said that we could either take her walker, or she'd need an arm to hold on to while she walked. BER said, "I think having you on my arm would be a lot more fun, don't you?"

I have to say, I loved BER very much already, but watching how gentle and sweet he was with my grandmother made me fall in love even more. I told my grandmother that BER was going to be in BIG trouble later for flirting with another woman (her) and then we both giggled.

We shared private and special stories for almost three hours in that restaurant, and then went back to her home where my aunt and cousin had WAY too many baked goods (they're EVIL) and wine, and then we visited some more. She gave me some mementos to take home with me, including a birdhouse she hand painted. I didn't notice until I came home to unpack it that she'd signed it with a special note to me on the bottom. ::sigh:: I'll treasure that.

It was very difficult to pull myself away, but I could see that everyone was getting tired after a 9 hour visit, so we left.

I have so much that I would like to write about, but it's too private. I know I share a lot here on my blog, but I never share someone else's stories. That's very important to me and I know that my friends will understand.

I called my grandmother when we got home to let her know that we're safe and sound. While talking, she told me that she's so happy that BER and I are together. She said that it's very obvious that we were meant for each other. I have to agree. I'd also like to say that my grandmother and I were meant for each other- even if it didn't happen until 45 years after I was born.

I'm lucky indeed.