A great post, Kristin, and absolutely *right* to boot.

I was surprised by the hole my grandmother left when she died two years ago.  It wasn't unexpected: she was 98, and while she didn't have Alzheimer's, she had been gently fading for a few years.  Still, it hit me hard, in a slow-release kind of way.  Grieving for my mother had been hard, too--but complicated, in all the ways that relationships between mothers and daughters can be complicated.  Grieving for my grandmother was hard in its simplicity.  I loved her, and she loved me: whatever I did, I always knew she was unconditionally (if not always uncritically) on my side.  

I don't know you that well, but the spirit of your grandmother clearly lives on in the way you write and think hard about the big things that matter.

The familiar formulas are often the truest ones: best wishes to you and your family in this difficult time.

Kirstin