I consider myself an incredibly lucky person, mainly because I was fortunate enough to know both of my grandmothers for nearly 40 years. I got to climb into their laps to read bedtime stories, learn how to bake sugar cookies and eat half of them while we were decorating them, and, as I've mentioned before, have the honor of both of them walking me down the aisle at my wedding in 2008.
A little over a year ago, I wrote about my Grandma McGivney when she died at the age of 98. On Wednesday night, my maternal grandmother, Martha Prentice, died at the age of 96. My mom and I lived very close to my maternal grandparents when I was a kid, so I was at their house often and spent a ton of time with my grandparents while I was growing up. I was Martha's only grandchild until I was in my early twenties, so she may have spoiled me a little bit (like letting me eat all those sugar cookies).
She taught me how to bake and tried to teach me how to sew. She was really great at sewing and made my Halloween costumes every year. She taught me how to drive a golf cart when I was around 8 or 9 and would let me drive her around their retirement community at an exhilarating 3mph. She encouraged me to read as much as possible and to follow my passion, and she and my grandfather introduced me to computers, eventually leading to my career today. She supported and loved me through my teenage years even though I was a holy terror and I will always be thankful for that.
She married my grandfather on Christmas day in 1941 and they stayed madly in love for more than 50 years of marriage until his death in 1991. Their first daughter died a few weeks after she was born due to a heart defect. They went on to have two more children - my mom and my uncle Mark. She is survived by both of them, her four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
She was a strong and inspiring woman, living through adversity, war, the Great Depression, the death of a child, and the teenage years of both my uncle Mark and me. No matter what, she was always there with a smile and a hug. I will miss her stories, her jokes, and her laugh, and I will always remember how lucky I am to have had both of my grandmothers in my life for as long as I did.
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