She lived for 93 years, 32 918 days. I spent only half of that day with her and i will always remember this. You were there too little one, sitting clumsily and a bit uncomfortably on her lap, touching her hand with your tiny baby fingers, bringing smile to her face. You met Grand Oma Edith, Your grandad’s mum.

I regret I havent had a chance to get to know her better, i just heard many wonderful things about her from your dad who was very close to her and for whom she was very important, who he loved very much. I never had a chance to meet his other grandma or granddads, we met too late in life. My grandmums and grandads had passed away by then too. But I did meet Oma Edith one beautiful sunny day during our first family trip to Europe. You were just over 3 months old so it might be too early for you to remember but I will hope that there will be somewhere in, you a little soft feeling, glimpse of memory of your contact with that wonderful older lady.

We went to visit Oma Edith on the 3rd of Septemeber, a month before she passed away. We did not know if she will remember the good news we were bringing to her, about our love, marriage and you my little Darling. Oma had some troubles remembering new things she was told. Your Oma and Opa told her about Marcus getting married and having a child and even though this made her really happy she did not remember it by the enxt time they visited her, so they thought, so they needed to repeat the news and she was happy again. Yet when we came to see her she knew perfectly well, despite some short memory problems many older people have, who we were. She loved seeing her dear grandson and she squeezed my hand and kissed me and told me how happy she was that Marcus and I found each other. She knew who you were and she watched you asleep on the chair next to her and when you woke up I sat you on her lap and she cuddled and stroked you. She was happy.

At some point she turned to me, took my hand and pulled me towards her. “i love you, as much as i love Marcus” she said. first i thought she might have mistaken me with someone from her family. But i was her family and she was talking to me. She squeezed my hand and kissed it and said she is so happy to see Marcus happy and in love and that she loved us very much. Marcus said this means a lot because she loves him a lot and obviously she realised i was a part of him. She never forgot after this that her dear grandson was married, that he had me and you and that we made him happy as he never was before.

That was the last day Marcus spent with his grandma but he will always love her. A month after this wonderful meeting a great woman passed away. She was loved by all her children and grandchildren and spent her last days surrounded by them. Remember this my sweetheart, this is how i hope you will be, loved and respected by everyone. She will be also missed by everyone but her life was long and meaningful. She was surrounded by love when she was departing and she left a lot of love in the world in the lifes of all her children and future generations, the love which is and will continue to be a response to the love she once gave to others.

I hope you will learn about her from your dad but most of all from your opa, i hope he will find time and inspiration to write to you about his mum but if not then one day soon you can sit on his lap and ask him to tell you stories about grand Oma Edith.