{"id":2756,"date":"2021-02-08T05:43:19","date_gmt":"2021-02-08T12:43:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.irenenorth.com\/writings\/?p=2756"},"modified":"2024-04-22T02:46:07","modified_gmt":"2024-04-22T02:46:07","slug":"indelible-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/2021\/02\/08\/indelible-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"Indelible moment"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

She packed the last bag into my car
\nwe went back inside where she put the kettle on
\nheld the string so the bag didn’t fall in
\nShe sat down at her usual spot at the head of the table
\nI took my spot to her left
\nAs the tea steeped, we talked about the usual things
\nand worked on the daily crossword in the paper<\/p>\n

She opened a bottle of Avon hand lotion
\na reminder of her decades on the assembly line
\nShe worked the lotion through her arthritic hands<\/p>\n

Her fingers were always soft on my face
\nher hands held my head in place when she kissed me on the cheek
\nthen wrapped her arms around me
\nThe hugs were warm and neither of us wanted to say goodbye
\nShe held me tight and I felt safe<\/p>\n

Gram got up to get her tea, squeezed the bag, tossed it away,
\na dollop of milk for the perfect brew
\nI grabbed the water jug from her fridge
\nfilled the aluminum cup like I’ve done thousands of times before
\nwe rejoined around the table, talked about the world
\nas we watch the steam from her cup rise toward the ceiling<\/p>\n

When the drinks were done, we knew I had to go
\nneither of us wanted to leave
\nwe talked some more while sipping on cold tea and warm water
\nalways wishing we had more time<\/p>\n

There was a long sigh and a \u201cwhelp\u201d
\nShe wrapped her arms around me
\na warm hug held me tightly in place
\nneither of us wanted to say goodbye
\nI rested my head on her shoulder
\nI didn’t want to let go
\nan extra tight squeeze, a light tap on my back
\nthe moment would soon be over<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ll see you later,\u201d she said as she shoved a Benjamin in my pocket
\na dance we’d performed a dozen times before<\/p>\n

I got in my car, put my seat belt on
\n\u201cBe good,\u201d she said. \u201cDon’t drive too fast.\u201d
\nTwenty-one hours later, I’d let her know I had arrived home
\nExhausted and sleepy, I’d talk to her for another hour<\/p>\n

She’s been gone ten years and I can’t pick up the phone
\nI can still smell her lotion
\nI hear her voice in the recesses of my mind
\nIf I close my eyes, I can feel her warm embrace<\/p>\n

She’s the only grandma I ever knew
\nand I think about her all the time<\/p>\n

I squeeze the bag in my favorite teacup
\nwatch the steam rise into the air
\nI close my eyes, the conversations come rushing in
\nand the hugs sometimes too tight to bear
\nI smile and try to be good
\nbut I still can’t seem to drive slow<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[164,236,257,285],"class_list":["post-2756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gram","category-poetry","tag-gram","tag-memory","tag-new-york","tag-poetry"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2756"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3626,"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2756\/revisions\/3626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}