A Grandma's Love is Always and Forever.




Left to Right: Danielle, Me and Mommom


Have you ever lost someone who meant so much to you, you didn't know how to feel? Well on Friday, November 29th, 2013, Deitra Ann Edwards, my grandmother and the person who impacted my life the most died. Although I lived with my parents in Northeast Philadelphia, I spent the majority of my childhood at my grandparents’ house in East Germantown due to the busy schedule my parents had. My grandmother was the type of person who didn't take just anything from anybody. She always told us "I lived 60+ years here, I'm pretty sure I earned the right to say whatever I want!" My grandmother is my role model because she helped me develop my passion for cooking and baking, my interest in criminal justice and my love for art ultimately helping me become the person I am today. 

Mommom and I mixing her famous butter cake. 


I loved going to my grandmother’s house. The second I stepped inside the door; the delicate scent of brown sugar and honey surrounded me to make me feel warm and welcome. She brought me into the kitchen and asked me to help her bake. Sitting on the cream counter, was that shiny aluminum tube cake pan I knew all too well. We were making her signature butter pound cake. I looked in the bowl sitting in the center of the oval kitchen table that was draped in a red checkered tablecloth and saw the brightest white flour, salt, baking soda. She taught me how to crack eggs into the bowl and how to separate the egg whites from the egg yolks, then would let me add the vanilla and lemon extract to the butter.

The finished butter cake
 topped with powdered sugar.

Then my favorite part came next, using the mixer. 
She would slowly pour the butter mixture to the flour while I use the KitchenAid battery operated hand mixer. After everything was combined, we would pour the cake batter in the aluminum tube pan and into the oven it goes. I learned how to cook and bake from my grandmother and now every time I make her signature butter cake, she’s all I think about.  

My grandmother supported me in everything I do. I would come home from school and play viola for her and she'd exclaim, "you're good enough to be a part of the Philadelphia Orchestra!" I would show her my sketches such as Yoshi and Mario, or Sonic and Shadow the Hedgehog and she would say "keep painting like that and your paintings will in the Louvre one day." I would practice my ballet routine for my recital, and she would comment "I can't wait to see you dance so gracefully across that stage." My grandmother always made me feel as though anything I liked to do was important. She made me feel as if I can do any and everything I wanted to do. Everything was possible to me with her in my life. The last words I heard my grandma say to me were, "Teetee, I'm proud of the beautiful, intelligent young woman you are growing up to be. And I will always be SO proud of you."

    

My grandmother was my everything and that call at midnight following Thanksgiving in 2013 was the worst call I ever received. When she died, a part of me died as well. Seeing the person who basically raised me in that casket, not being able to tell her how much I love her and miss her one more time, left me devastated. Hearing that harsh metal crank as the casket descended into the ground was like nails on a chalkboard to my ears. My world forever changed. Yet, all I can do is thank my grandmother for introducing me to the culinary world, the path towards justice and my love for all things art. Losing my grandmother made me realize that no one is here forever and taught me to cherish the moments I have with the people in my life now.




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