Y’all know Grandpap died in October, and it was a nice time to see family, but it sucked that he died. But hey, now he’s not suffering anymore. Now my grandparents have three children and their daughter moved to Florida over a decade ago. They’ve gone to visit her from time to time, and my Uncle (my dad’s youngest sibling) has recently chosen to move his family to Florida for job opportunities and the weather. I’ve always been close to my grandmother and she begged me not to forget her after Grandpap died. I call her weekly, and even as soon as the funeral we were all wondering when she was going to move to Florida. She has spent so much time living month after month at my uncle’s house, and then they even spent the winter in Florida. But I remember the children sitting around the smoking room at the funeral home wondering when she’s realize Florida is where she needs to be (I feel like a friggin’ Clampitt here).

Grandma turned 81 yesterday, and she’s been bored. I call and she’s been hanging out around her house. For her in Pittsburgh, the only family she still sees regularly are my parents who can afford to fly to Florida anytime to see her. Everyone else is in Florida (or out West in Arizona and California). So today I was chatting with her and she’d just cleaned all her windows and her bedroom (not "our" bedroom, "my" bedroom), and she told me she was getting ready. I asked "ready for what".

And she said it. "I’m selling the house and moving to Florida. It’s lonely here."

I smiled and shook my head and agreed. Yes, thank you. Yes, we know. We knew, and now you know, but you needed to know on your own time, not ours. So I told her without sounding too eager that I thought it was a good idea and we’d be down to visit. My only question now is, who is making my babalki on Christmas Eve?!