Elizabeth Giometta

                          Elizabeth Witt Giometta 1924-2014

Grandma and my Dad.

This weekend we said goodbye to triple G (Great Grandma Giometta).  I thought she had a few years left, but her time had come.  Back in the beginning of January she fell somewhere in her assisted living residence.  She couldn't remember where, how, or even that it had happened at all.  She bruised up her face terribly that it was hard to look at her without feeling awful.  That was the last time I saw her lucid.

Grandma and Grandpa.  She always loved to dance even until she was in her late 80's.

After being moved to a nursing home for Alzheimer's patients not too long after her fall, she was moved to a full time assisted living home.  It wasn't long after that when she fell again and hurt her head.  Within a day or two she stopped eating, drinking, and opening her eyes.  Hospice care was called in that following Monday.  We came to see her Friday afternoon.  I wasn't sure if we would make in time to say goodbye.  Fortunately, she didn't pass until Saturday afternoon.  I couldn't believe how long she held out.  She truly was stubborn her whole life  even until the end.  My sister Julianna and my cousin Vanessa stayed with her all day Friday and through the night.  They left Saturday morning to go eat when my Mother arrived.  My Mom stayed with her but then decided to go fill out some paper work for a few minutes in the office.  While she was gone Boots decided to leave this life.  At first I felt bad hearing that people were staying by her side so that she didn't have to leave this life by herself, but then I realized that maybe she wanted to do it alone.  Everyone needs to go in their own way.  All week I've been reflecting on the amazing memories I had with her.  My Father was an only child so we were her only Grand kids.

Grandma at the Trevi fountain. 

So she was around us a lot.  If my parents couldn't pick me up from school, practice, piano lessons, etc., they called Grandma.  She was at every holiday and every important event in our lives, including talks and performances at church.  She wan't a member of our faith, but I know that my Father is teaching her the gospel in the spirit world and that her arrival was a joyous time for him and my Grandpa Tony.

In preparing for her passing I created a list of all the funny and important memories I have of her.

1. She always wore shorts in the summer and would ask me to sit on her lap.  I hated it because she used an epilady to shave her legs so when the hair grew back it was extremely stiff and spiky, so it hurt.

Juli and Grandma at Jake's Birthday party last year.

2.  Since I was a baby she always made spaghetti and meatballs every Sunday.  She wasn't an awesome cook but she nailed that meal every time.  She would also make a soup with peas and pasta in it, which didn't excite the palate, but it was just her thing.

3.  She would always make our Birthday cakes, and she would whip them too much that they were always dry.  When we were little she would wrap coins with money and stick them in the cake so that we had an extra little surprise for our special day.  Also, she made this weird cake with strawberry jello and whipped cream.

She always supported my Dad at his soap box derbies. 

4.  She had this painting in her house for years that I thought was hideous.  It wasn't until I was in college that I realized it was a copy of a Rembrandt.  I still think it's ugly.

5.  She taught us to golf.  She wanted to spend the time with us, so she would take us to lessons, drive us to the driving range and putting greens to practice, set up our season passes, and even caddy for us when we played in tournaments.  A lot of people would have a hard time keeping their cool when they golfed, me being one of them, but she always kept her cool.

6.She would tape Saturday morning cartoons and episodes of Saved by the Bell for me so that when she was babysitting me I had something to watch.  I usually would watch a show while eating a happy meal.

She had taped the Wizard of Oz for us when I was a baby and we watched it every Sunday for years.  It was so old that for years I thought Michael J. Fox was just some guy from the Pepsi commercials.

Both of my Grandmothers at my High School Graduation Party. 

7.  She would take me shopping.  We had that in common.  For Christmas and Birthdays she didn't want to just guess or surprise us with something, she wanted us to pick out exactly what we wanted.  This was before gift cards were as common as today.  She even worked at Fannie Mae during the holiday season so that she could have more money to get everyone something special.  Plus, she always purchased trinidads from work just for me because she knew they were my favorites.

8. Sleepovers!  My Grandma had been living alone since I was 6 years old.  She would invite Juli and I to sleep overs whenever we wanted. Sleeping over at Grandma's was awesome.  We could stay up late, watch MTV (which my family didn't have), and eat crackers and drink root beer floats at 10 pm at night.  Then in the morning she would never wake us up, she would let us sleep in.  I would wake up to the smell of a fresh pot of coffee.  I nor my family drinks coffee, but I love the smell of it, it reminds me of her. After that we would go for breakfast to Hardees and get biscuits and Gravy.  I know, it sounds gross but it tastes so good.

9.  The green silk pillowcase.  My Grandma had this green pillow case that was so soft and smooth that it just felt so cool on my face.  I loved it.

10.  Swedish pancakes.  Whenever my Rockford friends go home they always want Swedish pancakes.  I crave them as well.  After golfing we would always go to this dive in Rockford called, "Sams", that stunk of cigarettes and white trash, but they sure did have the best sweeds.

11.  She wrote me letters all throughout college and on my mission, sending $20 in each of them. I would always write back of course.  But I will say most of her letters consisted of her complaints about getting old.

12.  Watching movies with her as she got older was frustrating yet entertaining.  She would talk the whole time, ask what was going on, and then after the movie was about to wrap up she would comment that she had already watched it and didn't like it the first time.

This was taken before I was born. 

13.  I'll never forget driving her from her house to the airport then going through all the motions to get us on the plane and fly to Salt Lake City.  She was really confused the whole time and kept asking me why we were at the airport and where we were going.  It was chaotic.  But as a child I remember she would always tell me that one day I would be driving her around and taking care of her, when she got old.  All those years ago I never believed that time would come.

14.  When she would come to my house over the past few years she liked to go outside and play basketball with my son Max.  She thought it was amazing that he was so good at getting the ball into his little playschool hoop.  I would watch them outside as her old body would chase him around and pick the ball up for him.  She really was young at heart.

15.  Her phone number will always be 815-399-5137.

I'll miss you!

Love, 

Rachel