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My great grandmother passed away today. She was 96 years young.

She had the biggest heart, and was one of the strongest, most stubborn women I have ever, and will ever know.

Growing up, we were somewhat of a troublemaking duo. She'd babysit me a lot, and we'd go for walks and keep my dad awake when he worked midnights. On weekends, I'd spend the night at her apartment where we'd make fresh orange juice and thin pancakes. When she got older, and couldn't come out to the suburbs as much, I'd call her. We'd sit on the phone for hours, sometimes talking, sometimes in silence as we went about doing things.

We also had many "inside jokes," so to speak, involving squirrels. She once told me that all squirrels had rabies, and I believed her for years and years. (I became especially concerned about this after seeing Old Yeller, but I digress.) She also had a squirrel at her apartment once. He'd found his way inside by chewing through her A/C unit, and to this day I remember sitting at the window, scolding the animal on her behalf once we'd managed to get it out.

She also loved her sweets. French donuts were her favorite, but in terms of homemade goods, kolache were her forte. My mom jokes, saying those kolache sealed the deal on my parent's marriage.

Needless to say, I'll miss her terribly.