Sassy. Last Sunday, Nov. 1, I lost one of the sassiest and most important people I know in my life, my grandma, Margie Murtaugh.

As we met with the pastor to prepare for her funeral, he asked what one word I would use to describe her, and I said, “Sassy.” So, to back myself up, I told him this story:

A few years ago, she fell in her garden and broke her back. She was taken to the emergency room, but when I arrived, she was really hungry. She was instructed by her care staff that she wasn’t to eat in case they needed to do any procedures. She then told me to go get her a burrito from Taco Bell. I was hesitant, but I knew I would do anything for her. So, I went and got the burrito and snuck it back in her room. When the nurse caught her eating it, she was quick to come back with, “I don’t care, I’m hungry and I’m going to eat this burrito.” As distraught as she was about getting hurt, she sure was sassy and pretty upbeat about rebelling against the nurses and getting to enjoy a burrito.

While that is one of my memories of my grandma, I have tons of them we made in our 20 years of time spent together, so I thought I’d share some of them.

In my later years of day care, and through elementary school, my dad worked out of town and my mom worked late on Wednesdays. My grandma would pick me up from school on those days and we would enjoy our afternoons together. One of my favorite photos of us together is me, pretending to be a fast food worker in a cardboard box, and she is pretending to be a customer for me.

We did a lot of creating together on our Wednesdays, too. If you were to go to her house now, you’d probably still find my craft basket sitting on the porch. We spent countless hours out there together, painting and drawing. We also made lots of experimental smoothies together for afternoon snacks, and not to brag, but after all of our times doing that, I would say I’m pretty darn good at making a mean smoothie.

My grandma was also one who loved to sew and garden. I credit my ability to sew and garden to her. Some of my fondest memories include sitting in front of the sewing machine with her or watching her garden in one of her countless flowerbeds at her and my grandpa’s place.

My grandma really loved her pets. After a while of not having any, she bought a betta fish. She loved that little guy so much, and of course, his fishbowl was topped with a really nice-looking aquatic plant. She and my grandpa decided to get a cat, and I remember going with them to both our local humane society and the one in Austin. Somewhere along the line, they ended up with not one, but two kitties, Tigger and Tillie.

This year, I bought a new car and a new motorcycle. I remember hearing stories of how much my grandma did not like the time she tried riding on the back of my grandpa’s motorcycle. One night, I rode it out to her house so she could see it. One of the very first things she said to me about it was, “So, when are you going to give me a ride?” This made me giggle, because she was obviously kidding, but I knew her history and feelings towards motorcycles.

When I bought my new car, I didn’t get to bring it home from the dealership right away, but I was telling my grandma about it before I actually got it. She somehow knew right away that it was a red car. A couple days after I got it, I took her for a ride in it. She must’ve had a soft spot in her heart for sporty red cars, because she was so thrilled on the ride.

The last thing I’ll share is my thankfulness for technology. I’m not sure if I somehow knew her death was coming, but for some reason I have not deleted a voicemail message from her since March, so I’ll always be able to go back and hear her voice again. Also, I would like to thank my high school journalism teacher, Riley Worth, for having us do an assignment on interviewing an elderly person back in my sophomore year of high school. I interviewed my grandma and recorded it. I still have that hour-long interview, where she told me much of her life’s story, and I’m forever grateful for that keepsake.

Grandma, I still have a hard time believing you’re gone, and I miss you so much every day. I know you’re up in heaven gardening and dancing with grandpa, and being your sassy self, though.

 

Erin Murtaugh is an undergraduate at Bemidji State University studying elementary education. She can be reached at murtaugh.erin@gmail.com.