A year ago my sister sent me an email with the subject: Grandma made it to her real home…6:41am.
Pauline Goodwin passed away at the grand age of 99. I always felt a special bond with Grandma Goodwin because we shared a love of sports, particularly basketball. As a boy and on into adulthood I spent many evenings watching basketball with her. Grandma’s favorite team was the San Antonio Spurs and so one year I bought her a Tim Duncan jersey that she proudly displayed on her wall during basketball season.
Although I’d like to think I had a unique relationship with Grandma Goodwin, the reality is she found a way to make everyone she met feel special. This doesn’t mean Grandma was a pushover by any means, in fact, she was known to speak her mind. For example, once when one of my brothers grew a bit of a beard she remarked, “grow it out, and then shave it off.”
A short blog post can’t begin to describe this great woman and the influence she has had on my life. In October when my unborn son unexpectedly passed away a few days before his due date it didn’t take long for my wife and I to choose Goodwin as his name.
The other night I asked my three year old Elinor where baby brother was, she replied, “baby brother is with Grandma Goodwin.” If my son is anything like his dad he probably is with Grandma Goodwin, watching basketball.