Teresa Brigid McCabe Prunty

Our Granny --my mom's mother -- died yesterday morning in Ballinamuck, Co. Longford, Ireland, apparently from a heart attack, despite her doctor recently saying she had a heart as strong as a horse and she wouldn't be one to have a heart attack. This was quite a shock to everyone, she seemed to have at least another 10 good years left. She would have been 80 in November.

We didn't get to see her as much as we would have liked to, since she lived in Ireland, as does most of my mom's family. The last time I saw her was in December of 2001. She was the cutest granny ever! These are some of my memories of her...

When I was about a year and a half, we were visiting Ireland and I fell in a big mud puddle. Granny laughed so hard she peed in her pants. (Okay, I don't really remember that, but I heard it often, so I feel like I do...)

The summer I turned 7, two of my sisters -- Aislinn and Tara -- and my mom and I went over. My older sister, Aislinn, and I kept little journals of our stay. I remember being in one room in Granny and Grandad's house when I heard Granny discover my journal in the next room. As she read about Grandad delivering a calf and getting pooped on, she burst out laughing. I was kinda embarrassed, but she had the best laugh, so it was worth it.

I look a lot like my mom (lucky me ;) and when I was younger Granny would call me "Little Pauline" at times. She'd let us collect the eggs, and get turf from the shed for the stove. She'd always have little treats for us in the kitchen. Everyone knew her and Grandad and loved them. Once when we went to the pub with them -- the 98, I'm pretty sure -- Aislinn and I got to perform an Irish song Mom always sang to us on the stage. That was pretty fun. I probably won't ever have the chance to be a pub singer again!

Granny loved to garden, she had such a gorgeous little front yard. I remember when I was 17 we all went over for their 50th wedding anniversary, and there were some beautiful, sunny days. Aislinn, Erin, and I sat out with Granny at a little table in her front garden, eating some ice cream (ice lollies) and just enjoying the weather, the flowers and each other's company. She was so fun to talk to!

When Zachariah and I were living in Belgium and visited everyone in Ireland that December of 2001, we stayed with Granny, like always. By then, Grandad had passed on, which was difficult for Granny. Luckily, she was still surrounded by most of her children and grandchildren. She was such a sweet, fun person! I loved getting to talk with her more one on one, being the visiting "adult" rather than tagging along with mom. She was so funny! She has this orange tabby cat, Ginger, who she kept referring to as "he." I vividly remembered the same cat from the anniversary trip 4 years earlier as having a litter of kittens and being, most definitely, a "she." I asked Granny about that, and the response I got still cracks me up: "Well, Ginger used to be a she, but then he had an operation and now's a he." I think the cat was just spayed, I don't think she had a complete sex change...

Uncle Padraic and his family took Granny, Zac, and I out to a Chinese restaurant one night we were visiting. Granny was so funny! She kept saying, in a low voice, "Imagine, Chinese people here in Longford!" Of course, it's mostly been in the last several years that lots of immigration into Ireland and other western European countries has been taking place, not something she's very used to. She also insisted she wasn't very hungry, that she didn't have much appetite since Grandad had died, so we all ordered appetizers or soup, except for Granny. However, she gladly sampled everyone's food, and finished up several appetizers. She even guzzled down the leftover sweet and sour sauce! (This, I'm sure, is where Mom gets it from ;) She ate her entree just fine, too, and finished off someone else's! Granny has always been a well-nourished looking woman, so I don't think anyone was too concerned about her wasting away.

Yum, she made us the most delicious apple tart, but forgot about it until the day before we were leaving. She wrapped up big pieces for us to take with us, it was soooo good!

She loved playing Bingo, and definitely had some lucky evenings! She liked to listen to and enter little quizzes on the radio, also, and could dance up a storm back in the day.

She was loved by so many people! She was so good, and always helped out anyone who needed anything. I wish I could have gone to visit her again...I miss her, we all miss her, she was very special.