Happy Birthday Grammy!

My grandmother wasn’t always the easiest person to get along with. She had what could be described as a strong personality. In fact everything about her was strong. She loved as fiercely as she argued (and anyone who has ever been in an argument with her knows the full significance of that statement). She didn’t have a lot of tolerance for weakness and her expectations for those of us in her family were insanely high. They were high because she truly believed in our abilities. She was certain of our talents and our intelligence and she was sure that if we were simply given the opportunity we could be successful.

So she did what she could to give us those opportunities. With my grandmother at his side my grandfather built my mother a house when she was a single mom with a toddler working toward a graduate degree. They were a middle class couple and yet my grandparents used large chunks of their hard earned savings to send us to Kenya, Bali, Tahiti , Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe so we could expand our world view. My grandmother didn’t want me to grow up thinking that my way of life was the only way of life out there. She tried (somewhat unsuccessfully) to find my musical talents by giving me piano lessons and singing lessons. She encouraged me to take dance lessons.

She encouraged me to write.

Before I was even considering a career as an author she was sure that writing was to be my calling. That's why I named the main character of my books, Sophie, after her.

I have so many memories of my grandmother. The dolls she made me and the dresses. All those angle food ice cream cakes she made for my birthdays. Her world famous dark-chocolate fudge.

My grandmother passed away a little over seven years ago and today is her birthday. So today I made dark chocolate fudge with my son and told him about his great Grammy, the woman who helped raise me. The woman who I will always miss and who I continue to dream of. The woman who gave me my opportunities.

So once again:

Happy Birthday Grammy!

Kyra Davis
Bestselling Author of:
SEX, MURDER AND A DOUBLE LATTE,
PASSION, BETRAYAL AND KILLER HIGHLIGHTS,
OBSESSION, DECEIT AND REALLY DARK CHOCOLATE
and
SO MUCH FOR MY HAPPY ENDING