Smile when you go over the bumps

I'm in the midst of creating a montage (or what my uncle keeps calling a "multimedia extravaganza") for my grandma's memorial. I've been scanning pictures and trying to find just the right music and transition sequence to make things just right. It's tough trying to capture someone's essence in pictures. But my grandma is a good subject because she was so true to her feelings and revealed a lot of herself in pictures, whether good or bad.

My grandma was a writer, painter and photographer without even realizing it. She was so talented but never really pursued her dreams until it was too late.

She always defined her career as the office manager at St. Mary's hospital in Sechelt. When I sat with her the day before her 93rd birthday, she grumbled about how the nursing home staff wanted to interview her regarding her life. She said "I really don't want to bore everyone". Or something to that effect. I ofcourse told her she was being ridiculous, but she just said "I worked at this very hospital...and I'm still here! How interesting is that?"

I can say with extreme certainty that her life was much more interesting than she let on.

Today, I came across this picture that she took:

She was an avid skier and grew up gliding down Hollyburn mountain. She skied until she was in her mid 70's if you can believe it. Her motto was "smile when you go over the bumps". Sort of a metaphor for life.

My grandma wasn't the kind of woman who loved to cook and clean. She was an adventurer. She travelled and met people from all over the world. She wanted to become a journalist when she was younger and was hired at the Vancouver Sun many years ago but turned it down after moving to Williams Lake to follow a man (an artist) she had fallen in love with (this being after she and my grandpa split up).

All her life is chronicled in a manuscript that sits in a trunk in our hallway. She attempted to have it published in her 80's, sending copies to editors and publishers...to no avail. I've yet to read it but have picked through many of her short stories, letters and various diaries that reveal a new layer on every page.

I am so proud to have had such a woman as a grandma and am so glad that she chronicled her life for me to see. Maybe not her intention but priceless nonetheless.

My grandpa and grandma. Speaking a thousand words.