101

elsie payne, my grandmother on my dads side.
the only grandparent i have left, she is one hundred and one years old and still living through shear stubbornness. a lady i never enjoyed being around much. she was a strict, stoic woman who was hard to make laugh and harder to make relax. after raising 5 kids pretty much solo in the 30's and 40's she latched on to god and found her new mission... to save our souls. 

the older i get the more i have learned to be real with elsie, show her brutal honesty, that which was rarely afforded her in life. along with that approach, i found out how to find her laugh, to make her blush, to challenge her think, to love her.

now at 101 years of age, she is like a child again, curious and somewhat giddy, still stubborn, but fun.  she won't be around much longer and i'm glad i have heard her laugh.

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