Elizabeth.
Added 2017-03-07 05:11:49 +0000 UTCAfter a two month long, 9,000 mile tour, I finally made it to this ever fleeting, vague and distant shadow of home, entering my room at 11:11PM.
This was my first bedroom. It was my grandmother's last bedroom before she passed away in October. I cleaned it up and made the bed before leaving in January. My grandfather, expecting a late arrival, kept the light on for me.
While there is an unshakable hollow feeling, there is also a sense of welcome here. Seeing my few cherished objects making company alongside hers brings warmth to my resounding solitude.
It is now midnight on March 7th. It would have been my Nana's 73rd birthday. What a strangely honorable homecoming.
I will continue to honor her by learning from her mistakes, and refining the many qualities I can only hope to have inherited from her;
To name a few, she was loyal and generous to both neighbors and strangers, oftentimes to a fault. She was also this way with animals. She was charismatic and outspoken. She was faithful and passionate. She was an incredible dancer. She laughed loudly, cried pitifully, prayed relentlessly, and in between, she was always singing.
Her name was Elizabeth, and she was the third consecutive daughter to take that name. I think she did the name the most justice. The etymology of her name is of Greek origin, and it means "bound by the sacred number seven."
The superstition was that four in a row is unlucky. I was supposed to resume tradition, but I am glad that I did not. There will never be another Elizabeth, and if she taught me anything, it was how to be my own woman.
