alistairmather

My grandmother has died. She was 72 and fighting cancer for the last twleve years. When I saw her this past Christmas she still looked like she could outdrink me.

She was the toughest woman I have ever met.

She might also heve been the best.

My grandmother never judged me, never scolded me, just used to laugh at my hangover or burnt out state and ask me again why I did all the stupid shit I did. She let me sleep it off on more then one occassion on her kitchen floor and never once told my parents. We used to drink whiskey and wine and stay up watching old horror films and weird shit. We started doing this when I was thirteen. She had seven kids and she'd seen it all, and nothing I ever did was new or a shock to her. We would sit and talk for hours about politics, drugs, society, and what the best old sci fi film was. She loaned me the most fucked up books imaginable because she thought I would get a kick out of them, and she was always right.

I don't mourn my grandmother; I've never really mourned the loss of anyone, and besides, she would have been pissed at me wasting my time. She had buried a husband, a son, and more relatives then I even knew I had. And like all the members of my family at a funeral, she told just as dirty of jokes about them after they were gone as anyone.

Tonight though, I am going out to have a drink. I think all of you should do the same. She would have appreciated that. So:

Here's to the toughest woman I ever knew. She was intelligent, insightful and accepting. And she could outdrink even the hardiest of you. I wish you could have met her, she would have loved this site.