I’ll Miss You Gamby
For my blog followers, this is more for me than for you, so it won’t be very interesting for ya…
Gamby passed away early this morning. After several years of Alzheimer’s, thankfully she went peacefully this morning. Mom got there last night, we think Gamby was holding on to see her one last time. We are relieved that she did not linger on in her deteriorating condition and hope that she is somewhere happy with uncle Jack and all her dogs! I am so glad that I got to speak to her on Wednesday and tell her that I love her, miss her, and that she’s been a wonderful grandmother. Through some gurgling, I got back a very broken ‘I love you too’, but I’m not sure if she even knew who it was that she was talking to. At least she knew it was someone that loved her.
Some things about Gamby that I always want to remember:
How much she loved hot fudge sundaes (there is no doubt that I got my sweet-tooth from her).
Our trips to Friendly’s when we would visit her in Farmington.
Walking the dogs around the Miss Porter’s campus.
How much she loved her dogs, even Taffy, the scrappy little mutt-terrier, who bit everyone and chased cars.
How her two Newfoundlands took up the entire kitchen at her house.
How Cory, the Newfy, had her own car and would lay in it under the shady tree all day. Then when Cory got older, Gamby would drive the Cory car down the street to where the curb was higher, like a step, and Cory would meet her there where she was able to hop into the car, then Gamby would take her for a ride.
The hideous bright pink lipstick that she used to wear. Jackie and I used to tell her she needed a new color, but she always kept it anyway.
How she always sneezed at least 10 times in a row.
Her contagious laugh and fun-loving sense of humor.
How she always wore knee-highs instead of socks, even with sneakers.
How beautifully she played the piano.
How she would hum and sing “Heart and Soul”.
How we used to get in trouble for climbing on top of the pool table in the barn room.
Doing arts and crafts projects together at the dining room table, like popsickle stick magnets.
Her light blue eyes.
In her more recent days, all the funny stories about her ‘crazy’ talk, like in the middle of July when Kim was running out for some errands, Gamby yelled out to her “Don’t forget the Christmas tree”.
How generous she was. One time I went to visit and commented on her pretty light blue antique lamps. Not long after I got home, she sent them to me just because she knew I liked them.
How much she loved her family.
How excited I always was to see her.
The world will be a different place without ‘Gamby’ (Grandmother B).
Qamea, Fiji – This one’s for Patrick
David playing volleyball with the staff.
Fox Glacier
When we arrived at the town of Fox Glacier, it was hard for us to even believe that there were huge mountains there that housed glaciers. It was rainy and extremely foggy so we couldn’t see anything around us. We stayed at a great B&B, Misty Peaks, where our hosts, Dave and Lea, were really fun and there were some other couples staying there that were also a lot of fun. We were all rained-in from doing any activity, so we had dinner and drinks together and got to know each other. This was probably the most social we had been in a while, so it was really nice to be rained-in with some interesting people. Most of the other guests were from the UK, but there was one other couple on their honeymoon from India. They said their wedding had 2000 guests and lasted 5 days… they were very ready for a vacation after that!
We stayed in Fox Glacier for 2 nights. We were supposed to a heli-hike day trip on the glacier, but due to low visibility, the choppers weren’t flying. Luckily, on our last morning, our B&B host got us (along with one of the couples from the UK) hooked up with a chopper just as the fog cleared so we could do a quick trip up to the Glacier. It was soooo beautiful. It is the only place in the world where glaciers descend into rain forests. The helicopter literally swooped around one canyon, and then ‘ta da’, there was the glacier. It is almost right in town, but just around the corner of one of the mountains. I guess normally you can see it really well from town, but due to the fog, we didn’t even see mountains until our last morning there.
We were able to hop out of the helicopter and hang out on the glacier for a little bit to take in the views. It was spectacular. I’m so glad we were able to get onto the glacier, even though we didn’t get to do our big hike.
We both agreed that staying at Misty Peaks was the best of all the B&Bs that we experienced on our trip. The hosts were a total riot and made us feel very comfortable in their home. They cooked an amazing meal and kept the drinks flowing. They really set a great ambiance for the guests to socialize and get to know each other. The rooms were nice and private too. Oh, and by far the best hairdryer in the entire country 🙂 So, to anyone that may go to Fox Glacier one day, stay at Misty Peaks, and tell Dave and Lea we say ‘hi’…
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