I know i don’t talk about my grandmother that much to anyone, but… a year ago today was the last time i saw my vavo alive and well. a few of my aunts and uncles were there at the retirement she lived at during her last years, so it was like a little unplanned christmas party. my parents and i, couple of aunts and uncles and vavo all squeezed into this tiny room clearly made for one. she had a stash of turtles chocolates that she immediately offered to me when my family had settled in. i didn’t even ask her if she had them, she just knew that i really liked turtles so she had this big box full of them, along with a few extras, and it was like she had them ready for me before i had even come over. she always did that, not just with the turtles chocolates, but with other small things too. usually it was little treats like chips and chocolate. but what it was never really mattered. it’s the fact that she ALWAYS knew what i liked — even though she was this tiny portuguese woman who couldn’t speak or read or understand english — she still knew what i liked and she always made sure i had it. her last words to me that day, and her last coherent words to me were “i love you” before she sent us home with that big box of turtles for me to have. but this christmas eve, i can’t see my vavo and i have nothing from her that i can go home with anymore. and it’s just really hard for me to be happy today, even though things have been good. i have all these gifts and all this love, but i will never have those things from her anymore. and that’s all i want.