My grandmother, Dorothy Cameron
Hi, this is Matt the Web Dude and this is my long-awaited GF Blog Post. Deacon J has been kind enough to let me make this post today on her blog - thanks DJ...
My grandmother, Dorothy Cameron, passed away in my grandfather's arms on the morning of October 25th. She was 84. She had been in a nursing home in VT for the past year with what started as renal failure and it was then discovered that she had developed ovarian or uterin cancer. Because of this she was unable to attend my wedding in June - although she wanted to more than anything. She was listening though, as my Uncle Scott held a cell phone up while Deacon J officiated our ceremony, and as grandpa gave the blessing and also as our friends gave their speeches.
My wife Jenn and I went to visit her a few times recently and this is a photo from our first visit after our wedding during which we got to show her our pictures and videos.
Jenn, Grandma, Me, Grandpa - 7/30/06
We buried her on Monday, October 30th in a small rural cemetary nearby in East Northport, NY next to her daughter (my mother) who was buried there 13 years ago. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful service. The night before the service I wrote down something that I decided to say and I read it during the service. Here it is...
-------------------------------------------------
My grandmother, Dorothy Cameron, was a good and loving person...
She was a good and loving grandmother...
She was also a good and loving great-grandmother, for a brief yet fulfilling period of time, who as she held her great grandson, John Silas Marcellus, for the first time this year said, "This Feels So Good."...
As all who knew her can attest, she was a good and loving friend...
And you may know her as a good and loving neighbor...
or cousin... or aunt...
or a good and loving mother...
or a good and loving wife.
Whatever our relationship was with her, we know this to be a solid fact of life. And we loved her; that is another solid fact of life.
We will each remember her in our own way...
My memories as a child include spending a lot of time at "Nana and Poppop's" house on 4th Avenue in East Meadow, where she taught me how to swim and ride a bike...
And we'd chew Freedent and play cards - and sometimes play the piano - and she'd make her pot roast, with the little onions and carrots on the side of the roast, smothered in dark brown gravy...
She never made anything else when I was over for dinner and I sometimes wondered if that was all she knew how to cook...
But why mess with a good thing?.....
Fast-forward about 25 years...
One day shy of 2 years ago, on October 31st, 2004, the day after grandpa's 90th birthday party, at their apartment in Montpelier, using a camcorder on a tripod, I interviewed my grandparents together...
I learned that grandma's favorite book was the Bible, her favorite color was Blue, that her favorite movie was Gone With the Wind, her favorite actors were Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald because as she put it, "they went so well together"; her favorite food was Filet Mignon, her favorite drink was a Sweet Old Fashioned, her favorite dessert was Chocolate Ice Cream, and her favorite hobbies were golf, reading and bridge...
I also found out that if she was given the chance to go back in time, and change her life in any way, that she wouldn't change a thing.
My most recent memory was from just a few weeks ago, when Lauren and Jenn and I went with grandpa to visit grandma at the nursing home in Vermont...
I happened to be sporting a goatee at the time...
Well, after spending about 30 minutes with her, she started to just look at me for a long time...
And she stared at me while I stared back at her for a good 20 seconds...
And finally I said to her, "Grandma, what are you thinking about?"...
She stared at me for another 10 seconds or so, and she smiled, and she said, "I'm just laughing at your beard."...
And we all laughed...
(just like you did)...
In our last exchange of words she made me laugh - and I'll never forget that.
My grandmother, Dorothy Cameron, passed away in my grandfather's arms on the morning of October 25th. She was 84. She had been in a nursing home in VT for the past year with what started as renal failure and it was then discovered that she had developed ovarian or uterin cancer. Because of this she was unable to attend my wedding in June - although she wanted to more than anything. She was listening though, as my Uncle Scott held a cell phone up while Deacon J officiated our ceremony, and as grandpa gave the blessing and also as our friends gave their speeches.
My wife Jenn and I went to visit her a few times recently and this is a photo from our first visit after our wedding during which we got to show her our pictures and videos.
Jenn, Grandma, Me, Grandpa - 7/30/06
We buried her on Monday, October 30th in a small rural cemetary nearby in East Northport, NY next to her daughter (my mother) who was buried there 13 years ago. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful service. The night before the service I wrote down something that I decided to say and I read it during the service. Here it is...
-------------------------------------------------
My grandmother, Dorothy Cameron, was a good and loving person...
She was a good and loving grandmother...
She was also a good and loving great-grandmother, for a brief yet fulfilling period of time, who as she held her great grandson, John Silas Marcellus, for the first time this year said, "This Feels So Good."...
As all who knew her can attest, she was a good and loving friend...
And you may know her as a good and loving neighbor...
or cousin... or aunt...
or a good and loving mother...
or a good and loving wife.
Whatever our relationship was with her, we know this to be a solid fact of life. And we loved her; that is another solid fact of life.
We will each remember her in our own way...
My memories as a child include spending a lot of time at "Nana and Poppop's" house on 4th Avenue in East Meadow, where she taught me how to swim and ride a bike...
And we'd chew Freedent and play cards - and sometimes play the piano - and she'd make her pot roast, with the little onions and carrots on the side of the roast, smothered in dark brown gravy...
She never made anything else when I was over for dinner and I sometimes wondered if that was all she knew how to cook...
But why mess with a good thing?.....
Fast-forward about 25 years...
One day shy of 2 years ago, on October 31st, 2004, the day after grandpa's 90th birthday party, at their apartment in Montpelier, using a camcorder on a tripod, I interviewed my grandparents together...
I learned that grandma's favorite book was the Bible, her favorite color was Blue, that her favorite movie was Gone With the Wind, her favorite actors were Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald because as she put it, "they went so well together"; her favorite food was Filet Mignon, her favorite drink was a Sweet Old Fashioned, her favorite dessert was Chocolate Ice Cream, and her favorite hobbies were golf, reading and bridge...
I also found out that if she was given the chance to go back in time, and change her life in any way, that she wouldn't change a thing.
My most recent memory was from just a few weeks ago, when Lauren and Jenn and I went with grandpa to visit grandma at the nursing home in Vermont...
I happened to be sporting a goatee at the time...
Well, after spending about 30 minutes with her, she started to just look at me for a long time...
And she stared at me while I stared back at her for a good 20 seconds...
And finally I said to her, "Grandma, what are you thinking about?"...
She stared at me for another 10 seconds or so, and she smiled, and she said, "I'm just laughing at your beard."...
And we all laughed...
(just like you did)...
In our last exchange of words she made me laugh - and I'll never forget that.
posted by Joanna Depue | 4:05 PM
2 Comments:
I loved my grandmother too - I lost my mom first, her daughter. I was an older woman when my grandmothere died and she was 93. It was six years ago now and I still miss her terribly. I just had a random thought last week when the seasons were changing here in Arkansas and I was in another world - Oh, I haven't seen them in awhile - I need to drive over - then reality hit again and I come to my senses, realizing the time period. I cried the next day, realizing I am an old woman and they are long gone - including the house now. What was I thinking? - just a momentary lapse while my mind was wondering - but they are with God, rejoicing in the changing season - loving the beautiful leaves and my continuing love for them and their family. Only we have the loss - Love never dies - Thanks for sharing this - I understand you and your grandmother//terry rogers ramer in Arkansas
I loved my grandmother too - I lost my mom first, her daughter. I was an older woman when my grandmothere died and she was 93. It was six years ago now and I still miss her terribly. I just had a random thought last week when the seasons were changing here in Arkansas and I was in another world - Oh, I haven't seen them in awhile - I need to drive over - then reality hit again and I come to my senses, realizing the time period. I cried the next day, realizing I am an old woman and they are long gone - including the house now. What was I thinking? - just a momentary lapse while my mind was wondering - but they are with God, rejoicing in the changing season - loving the beautiful leaves and my continuing love for them and their family. Only we have the loss - Love never dies - Thanks for sharing this - I understand you and your grandmother//terry rogers ramer in Arkansas
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