Shelby "Remember"

Photography by Randy Bacon

My tattoo reads "April 5th 2013.  Why? Because that is the date my grandma died.  She was my best friend.

She was the sweetest person—she never said anything bad about anyone, she never cussed, and she was always happy. When you walked in her front door, she was always ready to give you candy or ice cream. She was always baking, and she was just the typical grandma that you would think of,  but 10 times better. If I ever wanted to go hang out with someone, it was my grandma. I remember when I was 10 years old, we went to the mall and we found $50. We decided that I was going to get $25 and she would get $25. Then I remember going in my favorite store and spending all of the $50 and, of course being the good grandma that she was, she let me have all the money. I have all good memories of her, I don’t have any bad memories.

When I visited her in the nursing home after her cancer had gotten bad, she would always be happy to see us with a smile on her face. We would bring her ice cream because ice cream was such a big deal to her. If we got the wrong kind, she would even make us return it! It was vanilla bean ice cream that she always wanted, and one time we got French vanilla, and she was like ‘No, you have to take that back!’  I loved her spunky, childlike energy.  She was precious.

Because of her I am going to be a better person. I want to love people like she did. She taught me that I shouldn’t judge people, and instead I should always try to see the good in them. She was such a role model for me. I love looking at this tattoo that I have because it reminds me of all the memories that I have with her."