people i love: grams

yesterday was my grandma's birthday. which makes this the perfect opportunity to tell about my most favorite wedding moment...

let me tell you a little bit about my grandma. the summer after i graduated high school, i lived with my grandparents in central washington for 6 weeks while i packed cherries. i thought it would be a fun summer job and the idea of living somewhere else for part of the summer seemed romantic. but let me tell you, this job, this cherry packing thing, was not romantic. not one bit. because i signed up for packing after the cherry season had started, i was placed on the very last day crew. well, conveniently, the very last day crew didn't have a very last night crew, so we became somewhat of a day-and-night crew. which adds up to 12-14 hour days, 5-6 days a week. i was 18, i was scared to go to college, and now, i had chosen to be in a cold warehouse for 60-70 hours a week.

good move, i was telling myself. good move.

i got up at 4:40 each morning, was out the door by 5;20 and to work by 6:00. and at 8:30 each night, when we were sent home, i would walk back to my car, exhausted, and drive back to my grandparent's house. after my first three days of work, i didn't think i could make it six weeks.

but here's what kept me there.

every night when i got back to my grandparents house, there was grandma, standing in the kitchen, ready to fix dinner for me.

every night.

she and my grandpa would ask how packing went that day, or if that young man who was near-stalking me said anything funny [most days he just tried to pronounce my name correctly--"Kah-ter-eeeene"--he would say, reading my nametag. don't worry, the affection was not mutual], and would i be going for a run tonight?

[i was also training for my first college cross country season that summer, adding to the "scared to go to college" anxiety.]

they never went to sleep before i got home, and some mornings, grandma was up and making me a sandwich at 5:00 before i left. it was a hard six weeks, but grandma made it easier. and grandpa was always up for watching an episode of andy griffith or lawrence welk together.

and so on july 31, i didn't want to toss my bouquet to anybody. i wanted to give it to her.

and i'm so glad i did.

happy birthday, grandma. 

xoxo.


[photos by yasmin khajavi]