My grandma's favorite color is green

I come from a long line of strong women
My grandmother began college and moved to a farm to raise 6 children.
My mother and an aunt went to Veterinary School
I have been a math major, a nuclear reactor operator, and made it to China
Enterprise and entrepreneurship run in my family, and I expect similarly of myself

My grandma's favorite color is green - like growing things
I remember:
When I was young -
Saving her perfect strawberry jam by eating it so slowly that it began to mold,
Grasping the upper bar of my crib in protest of being made to retire there in the blue-gray twilight,
Being unable to escape either breadcrusts or unfinished milk
Her approval of my cursive handwriting, and eventually, of my gift-wrapping
The way she colored perfectly within the lines
The colored egg she brought me from a research trip to Ukraine
The greatness of her smile when I visited her in the hospital

When I was young,
I hid from the way she made me eat my breadcrusts, at an age when grandparents were judged by their willingness to provide icecream.
She was the strict one, the no-eating-cookie-dough, brush-your-hair-100-times-a-day, stand-up-straight-don't-slouch, eat-all-your-crusts, drink-all-your-milk, you-don't-know-what-you're-missing, one.

Raising 6 children herself, she had more than enough to spare on a family half that size. Old milk went back in the fridge to come out again when your tummy had made room for dessert. She made nearly every kind of potato at Thanksgiving and whipped out the smoothest mashed potatoes short of instant mix.

She always said she had a dull personality, so she had to wear bright colors, but if you've seen her, and seen the way her enjoyment of life and her pride in her family beams out of her smile, then you might also find her claim a little hard to believe :)

In my high school and college days, I enjoyed the friendship and conversation of a grandma that no longer had to be strict with me. She took interest in my pursuits and encouraged and supported me such that there are many things that I literally would not have been able to do without her. Solid as the stone from which her house is built, and just as midwestern, she raised a family able to go off into the world, and grandchildren who benefit from a firm family foundation.

She is a strong one.
She's lived a long, and sometimes difficult life
Her family is successful, and she enjoys bragging privileges.

I have forgotten how old she is, since every year she tells us that she is going on 27.
Soon, I will turn 26.

When her health came into question for the second time,
She chose probable death over extended medical treatment.

I can only hope that
I, too, will be this kind of strong.

I love you, grandma, from thousands of miles away.
Thank you for who you have been in my life.