Summer of 2003
my youngest son and I
took a long over due trip
back to some of my roots.



I discovered something quite "special"
though I always knew it
I forgot just how "special"
this one person in my life
has been
and always will be.



To many she is known as Betty
but to me ... she is Grandma
and what a beautiful lady
inside and out she is.



She just turned 80-years-young last spring
but you just wouldn't know it
I never saw a lady
with such a zest for life
she truly amazes me.
So young at heart
a real testiment to all those
in their upper years.



She is a true example
~ age is just a number ... youth is a feeling ~
as one afternoon in her backyard
I was playing ball with my family
and I stopped to watch my grandmother
put on her old ballglove 
and toss my four-year-old son 
a few balls to swing at.



What a precious moment
I had just witnessed
so touched and amazed was I
of this 80 year woman
that it was no surpise
how many lifetime pictures
my heart took that week.



I hope someday
she can read this poem
and see just how much
she has touched my life
and the admiration I hold for her.



Sometimes ... 
the early years of our lives 
we lose touch with family
but after that wonderful week up North
I know I'll be back
and soon ...
cause I don't  know
when the hands on the clock 
will stand still for either of us.



I hope to God
she don't leave me for awhile
cause my heart 
has many more pictures to take.



Grandmother
is so very Special to me ...
and quite the inspiration ... 
but the best part
I will always have a part of her deep inside of me.



Thank you for being there for me
when I just didn't know ...



I love you!



September 2003