dear pratt.

dear pratt,

i lost my grandparents when i was just a little girl. there are a few things i remember about them. but i'm unsure as to whether i remember them happening to me...or if i remember certain things because i've seen pictures or heard stories. i guess it doesn't really matter. either way, i hold those memories in a locked, hidden away part of my heart.

my mom had a good friend who was very much a grandmother to me. her name was joyce. joyce morgan. she lived on berg. her phone number ended in 6083. i know her address by heart too.

she always had the latest issue of people magazine. always. no one else had the magazine...but she always did. she watched knots landing. on the tv in the den. she made the best meatloaf ever.

we went to joyce's house for holidays. christmas. thanksgiving. mothers day. easter. her family was ours...and our family was hers.

she wrote me a sweet note that i still have in my box. it's typed. but she signed her name to it. in cursive.

she wrote it because a woman mistook her for my grandmother. it was joyce, cookie and me. i was a baby. and someone came up and said, "what a beautiful granddaughter you have." joyce thanked her...and said that she very much considered me her grandchild.

i wish you knew her. i wish she were still here. and i know that if i miss her as much as i do, i can only imagine how her children feel.

she had this gigantic life size puzzle that she would lay out on the floor for me and spencer. you could color on it. she would get down there with me and spencer and color until we basically fell asleep. she would let us watch tootsie. and she always had thin mint girl scout cookies in the refrigerator for me.

she had the best guest bathroom ever. a magazine rack full of magazines. toiletries for days. everything you could think of. my favorite was her exclamation powder. oh, and electric youth perfume. i bet i stunk with all that stuff on me. ha. at the time, i thought i was 18. so funny.

my most favorite memory is this...joyce gave the best gifts. and she did something that no one else did. on my birthday, she gave spencer a small present. and on spencer's birthday, she gave me a small present. and the note always read, "just a little something so you don't feel left out."

that was her. making sure no one felt left out.

today i missed her. i texted her daughter to tell her so. and deanna wrote back and said that tomorrow would be her birthday. i was at the mailbox when i got the text. i'm glad no one saw me, because i started to cry uncontrollably.

i miss her so much. and i wish she could meet you. i know you two would fall in love.

love, mom.