My apologies to those looking for new posts here, poor desperate souls that you may be.  I fully intended to post my thoroughly meaningful thoughts about all things Cavaliers basketball during the team's surprising run through the playoffs, but sometimes life gets in the way.  Let me restate that.  Sometimes reality gets in the way.  In my case reality is the impending death of my grandmother - Gertie Thomas.  She was diagnosed with cancer back in December before the holidays but didn't want to tell any of her grandchildren to well after the holidays because she didn't want to be a downer.  At age 86, however, she elected to not be treated for it because at her age it would have required an invasive procedure that she wasn't willing to endure.

She said she's had a full life.  That I shouldn't cry for her for that very reason. That, however, has been difficult, primarily because of what she's meant in my life.  Some people have grandmothers, but I had two mothers.  My grandmother raised my brother and I, her first grandchildren, until we were 6 and 5 respectively.   She didn't have a lot of formal education and worked much of her life in menial jobs, yet when I entered kindergarten at Mayfair Elementary School in East Cleveland, I could read and write.

When I met the woman who would become my wife, it wasn't my mother's opinion that mattered most to me.  It was my grandparents' - moreso my grandmother's that proved most important.

And the best parts of me that I try to put forth, sometimes with much difficulty, I can trace back to this remarkable woman who raised six children of her own, a generation of grandchildren and a few great-grandchildren.  She's kind, compassionate, empathetic and is the embodiment of love with no strings attached.  She could literally forgive anyone any transgression, including a former in-law who once hit her while she was legally considered a senior citizen.

She would welcome anyone in the family be their surnames Black, Williams, Nichols, Perkins, Riley, Rose, Adams, Campbell, Butara, Magas, Seidel, Ambrose, Pantalone, Jones, Card, Caldwell, Smith, Lara, Heindell or whatever.  It didn't matter.  To them she became mama or grandma.

How do you say goodbye to someone so loving, so special.  You just do and enjoy each and every day you have left.  That is why this space has been empty.  I needed to write for the paper and while I enjoy adding my commentary to cyberspace, seeing my grandmother as much as possible for whatever number of days she has left is more of a priority for me.

She's asked me not to cry for her.  My problem is that I haven't been able to stop crying for me - for knowing what I will lose soon.

However, you can expect more words in this space on a regular basis given the situation the Cavs are now in, the Tribe looking to be the real deal and Cleveland Browns training camp a little over a month away.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 12th, 2007 at 2:24 pm and is filed under NBA, personal, playoffs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.