Today is the one year anniversary for my grandmother, or as I called her, my bubba yaya. Bubba means grandma in masadonian, and yaya means grandma in Greek. I can't believe that it has been a year since her passing! So much has happened in a year! Most importantly the birth of the final grandchild Zach, a week after her passing.
To think that a year ago today I was at training thinking about my grandmother, I had gotten a call from my mom to go over and see her, so I went over with Ryan. We walked in, and my little cousin Lucas was there and greeted us. We were happy to see him and be greeted by the little cutie. Then my mom came out with it telling me that she passed away. I immediatly bawled. My dad, being the jokester he said, and supposedly this was true, "Wow, she reacted faster than all of us. She cried instantly, we all at least waited." People in Greece knew before I did! I was the last to know! So of course, my aunt was there with my mom making plans for her outfit and flowers, while my dad and his brothers planned other things with my papou (grandpa in Greek).
It was a hard week that week. She passed on a thursday, and a week later we were going to Newfoundland! So we were crunched for time. The day before the viewing I had found out that one of my previous coaches lost her fight to breast cancer (she was re-diagnosed & it had also spread). That night my whole family, minus Ryan and my aunt and cousin, all watched 'Death at a Funeral' to prove that the one for my grandmother won't be like that. It also gave us a chance to all be together and have a good laugh. The day of the viewings was very busy. I had to play in a beach tournament (I'm sorry, I earned $2,000 just for playing!) and I really had no choice, me and my partner threw the tourney so I could make it to the second one. I missed the afternoon one, and was lucky to make it to the night one.
The funeral was a long day! Greek funerals always are. There's an early morning service, our priest was late because he was sipping coffee downstairs. There was also drama because the cake had different icing on it, that was meant for the 6 month service. The bakery had messed up on it, and my uncle got blamed because he picked up the cake. My thia (aunt) is a very opinionated person and really yelled at him! Throught out the day there was fights between my aunts-go figure- and let me tell ya, I was in the middle always!
A tradition in the Greek church is that you have wine, wheat and bread. I got the honour of bringing them all up to the front of the church during the church service. My thia from my greek side was the one carrying this big bowl of wheat to the front and a candle. My aunt on the masadonian side (my grandmothers sister in law) said we had to wait until the casket get's there. My thia was half way to the aisle, while my other aunt was holding me back, and yelling at my aunt. They were pulling me back and forth! There was more to it than that, but still, it was insane!
The priest also messed up during the service, embarassing the living crap out of me! He was saying, "Stella was a daughter, a sister, a sister in law, a mother, a grandmother and great greatgrandmother." Everybody looked at me because I am the oldest and was a newly wed at the time. My aunt, who was 2 weeks over do from her due date was like, "Uh Britt," I had to mouth to my whole family, I'm not, he messed up. My dad looked like he was gonna have a heart attack! His face was actually priceless. Then when the family was walking by sending their condolence, everyone was like congratulations. Ryan and I had a good laugh, sorta.
It was nice to see my extended family because we never really see them. I even got to meet my cousin who I've never met before! The restaraunt part was interesting. I had to do a speech saying that I wasn't pregnant, and the priest apologized. Also, the restaraunt knew that there was 4 grandchildren at the time, and the one was bringing someone (Ryan). So the waitors brought over a plate of a kiddie meal to Ryan and myself! They thought we were kids! My grandfather laughed so hard. It was delicious, I must admit! Never thought at 25 years old that I would get a kiddie meal.
So much has happened since my grandmother passed away. There's not a day that I do not think about her. I miss her so much! I am glad that you are no longer in any pain and are up there with the angels watching over us all proudly. I love you and I miss you so much!
So now this weekend we have to go to church to celebrate her 1 year. I feel better now that I have reflected on her funeral, it definatly makes me feel better about everything and makes me remember that funerals and deaths are a bad thing, but you always make new memories after they are gone. I feel glad to get that out. I know it sounds weird, but talking about thing's or writing about things make me feel better.
Thanks for reading!
Brittany x0x0
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