Last week my maternal grandmother passed away. She was born in 1930 and lived 84 amazing, gritty, loving, open, honest, and creative years.

Here she is on her wedding day with her first husband, Eugene H. Klein, in May 1950 in Cook County, Illinois.

I am grateful to have known my grandmother for 36 years, and I am so grateful she was surrounded by love — far and near — in her final moments.

My grandma is the person who gave me my first journal at age 9, my first newspaper column at age 13, and souvenirs from far-away lands, which showed me there was a whole world ripe for exploration outside of my rural Missouri girlhood.

This woman shaped and inspired my life as a writer, a woman, and a fierce human being.

The world is a better place for my grandma’s presence, and I love the hell out of her! ~shared by @kellathornton