My grandmother was a truly remarkable woman. She had such a long life, and even to the end, she was just a cool lady. She was married to her beloved husband, Phil, for almost 40 years. She lived 36 years after the death of my grandfather -- 13 years after the death of her great grandson, Drew --  10 years after the death of her son, Bill--  and 10 years after the death of her dear friend, Jay Johanson. She lived through change and loss and she survived and indeed thrived for so many years.

We all have the things we remember about her. I remember her easy smile, her friendly manner, her smooth skin, and her crooked fingers. I remember how she came to every graduation and confirmation and birthday and game and performance and every single event you invited her to. I never heard her say unkind things about people. I never saw her loose her temper. I never even heard her raise her voice in anger. When she would get really bothered, the worst thing she would say was, “crimeney.”  I remember how she returned a dress she had bought to wear to a Mardi Gras ball when she was 96 because it was “too old lady-ish.” She had so many dear friends, and she would always ask about your family and friends. In fact, she asked me about my husband the day before she died.

My dad invited her to come to Europe with us when she was 85, so of course she came. She went all over Paris and London – museums, churches, and shops and took the metro and walked and did everything that we did. She didn’t even complain, though after one particularly long day she did mention, “You know, when you travel with seniors, they drop you off at the door.”

She would never tell anyone her age, until finally, Pete Finney ran a story about the two grandmothers – she and Carmelite Hubert travelled to watch Will play in the All Star game. There, on the front page of the sports section, was her picture with the caption, Marie Clark, 92. She complained, “He told me he wasn’t going to put that in there.”

When she got to be in her late 90’s, she started using a cane. Family members started saying she really needed a walker, but grandma said, No, it would be too difficult for Rosemary Keubler to get a walker into the trunk of her car when she came to pick up Grandma for lunch. My mom worried that grandma could fall and be seriously hurt, but grandma said, “If I can’t go to lunch with my friends, then I’d rather be dead.”

She seemed so ageless for so many years. I couldn’t really imagine her ever being elderly. But she eventually declined, and I thank all of you who helped her in those last years – Mom, Uncle Philip, Aunt Monetta, Cathy, Marianne, all of her sitters, and so many others, more than I can name now. Thank you. It makes it a little easier to know that she was ready for this day.

Many of us were blessed to have Marie Clark be a part our lives. I am very grateful and proud that she was my grandma.