I am Bernadine's first granddaughter, daughter of her son Mark. I have so many memories of my grandmother, but because we lived in a different state, my most cherished memories are of when I was young and we traveled back to Blue Island for Christmas. I remember looking at my grandma's house and still remember the dark bricks. I remember the huge staircase (or what was huge to me) and the linear front room-hallway-dining room-kitchen-porch layout. My cousins, brother and I were always in the kitchen at the "kids table" and we had a blast together. Then, my grandma would buy each of us a coloring book and a brand new set of crayons and we would sit in front of her huge console TV and watch "The Wizard of Oz" and color in our new books. The memory of all of us being together is such a sweet one for me. Like all families, we have our fair share of drama, but God's love is bigger than that, and Grandma kept her family together to the best of her ability. I so appreciate how she was never too proud to say I'm sorry and while she could speak her mind easily, she was never to busy to say, "let's pray." She will be missed but that prayer warrior is walking with Jesus and I will see her again someday. Kocham cię babciu!