It seemed like it was going to be a good day on Monday, 3/14/11. But when I went to my dorm room for lunch, everything kind of went down the drain.

Glancing at my phone, I saw I had a voice mail from my dad. Checking said message, a frown creased onto my face.

“Hey, Aria, it’s Dad, just, call me later today, okay?”

He sounded worried and maybe even a bit sad on the phone. Briefly I thought I might be in trouble, but I laughed to myself, what could I have done?

But after calling my dad, I wished I had been in trouble.

The phone rang five times before I hear my dad pick up on the other line.

“Hey Dad, what’s up? Are you okay?”
“No, no, I’m fine, Aria.”
“What’s up?”
“Aria, your… Great-grandma DeeDee died last night.
“Wha…What?
“I’m so sorry, Aria, she just, she stopped eating and they took her to the hospital to replenish her fluids and she just, she just died. I’m here for you whenever you need me, you know that, right?”
“Yeah Daddy, yeah I know.”
“Call me later, honey.”
“Okay Daddy, I will.”

The rest of the day was kind of ruined. I spent the majority of it crying in my room, and the minority coming to terms with it.

I finally reasoned that, hey, Great-Grandma DeeDee was 104-years-old, and she far surpassed her life’s expectations.

Born in 1907, she survived both World Wars, the Great Depression, and the Dust Bowl. She survived one of her daughters deaths and her husband’s passing, as well. As she grew older, she grew more delirious, but that was fine.

She’d call me Ben, sometimes, because my brother is older and used to have hair the length and color of mine.
She’d always tell me to put socks on while inside, because she didn’t want me to get a cold, even in the summer.
But she was a child at heart. Every dinner, after everybody had finished eating, she would sneakily put her finger up on her nose, waiting for everyone else to. The last person had to help the cook, Dolores, wash and put away the dishes.

And it was her time to go, she had lived for so long, it was about time for her to finally rest, and she did so peacefully.

Goodnight, Great-Grandma DeeDee, we’ll miss you.