Goodbye Grandma

 

*Written for my Grandma Einck's funeral in January 2023

 

Ninety-six years have come and gone

Since my "Grandma Einck" entered the world.

The daughter of Walter and Mabel Koch,

She grew to be a beautiful, young girl.

 

As a girl in her teens she soon fell in love

And stole my grandfather's heart.

Though for about three years, during World War II

They were many miles apart.

 

She said she wrote letters to him every day

That were signed with a spritz of cologne.

Her words and her fragrance, I tend to believe

Helped her soldier to feel less alone.

 

As war turned to peace and my grandpa came home,

My grandma was swept off her feet.

Within a few weeks, they were husband and wife

And each of their hearts were complete.

 

Soon this beautiful young girl became a fine mom

With four daughters to shower with love.

She led by example as a hardworking wife

And a woman they’re very proud of!

 

As her granddaughter (myself now a wife and a mother),

That's where my story begins.

As my childhood memories, found deep in my heart

Take me back through the years once again…

 

Holidays and birthdays and fresh pumpkin pie,

Goulash - enough for a crowd,

Walks in the field with a long, crooked stick

Past a garden that's been freshly plowed.

 

In the dark snuggled up to the warmth of her robe

As her hands scratched my back in the night,

The smell of fresh popcorn still hung in the air

In a room filled with soft TV light.

 

Now the years have raced by, but the memories go on

Just this fall, I couldn’t help but smile

As I witnessed my grandma walk with purpose and pride

With my son down his wedding aisle.

 

Today, a few more short months are all that have passed,

And my Grandma has told us “Goodbye”

Peacefully leaving a full life, well led …

And my grandpa must be thrilled she’s arrived.