One of the new popular movies in Spain is "Volver", which is about a woman's relationship with her daughter, her sister, her nutty aunt, the death of her grand mother, and her supposedly dead mother. She deals with each one and all together in different ways, but the real premise is her realizing the true importance of family around you during tough times. "Volver" means "to return" so she ends up returning to her comfortable family roots, and I found myself doing the same thing this past weekend.

Last Tuesday, my maternal Grandmother ("Gran") passed away. She and I were certainly close, but she had been not doing well for about three years, and we knew she didn't want to live the way she was living. Death can be a relief in a sense, but there's still no way to prepare yourself fully for the news. I dropped everything and spent the next 5 days surrounded by immediate family, and extended family that came in from around the country. There are few things more comfortable than the love and support of family, and few things more fun than the banter that goes on when you're all together. Suddenly, conversations with aunts became a daily joy, hugs from my mom became almost hourly, and watching my cousin's son, Nicholas, became a great, cute distractor.

On Sunday, we had an Open House for Gran since she was emphatic that a funeral was too depressing and she didn't want that. We put up lots of photos of her througout the years, some of her crafts (showing her many hobbies), we had great food, no one wore black, and we essentially spent time sharing stories and connecting with her friends and our family. I learned more about Gran over the week, too. I found myself missing her a lot, but also feeling grateful that she had lived the life she did. Being faced with life's mortality can be extremely hard, being around people who so truly love and support each other can ease your mind. A few years back, I had finished knitting a very intricate sweater that Gran had started and gave it to her for Christmas. Even seeing that sweater again on Sunday was a mix of sad and comforting. Knitting is one of my biggest hobbies and I will always connect it with her.

Now I'm back to classes and work, but I'm still thinking about the weekend. It's amazing how quickly priorities can change and then how they can nag at you! I'm so glad I spent the time with my family that I did. Granted, my situtation wasn't as strange as Penelope Cruz's situation in "Volver", mine still had great importance to me. I just hope Gran's having a blast right now :)