MY GRANDMOTHER ASKED ME TO CLEAN THE PHOTO ON HER HEADSTONE EXACTLY A YEAR AFTER HER…
A year after Grandma Patty passed, I returned to her grave to fulfill her last request—clean her photo. But behind the frame, I found a note with coordinates, leading me to a hidden box in the woods. Grandma was my world, filling my childhood with love and adventure. She turned ordinary moments into treasures, teaching me that real love never ends—it just changes shape. Even as a rebellious teen, she reached me with warm cookies and quiet wisdom. Before she died, she made me promise: “One year after I’m gone, just you.” At the coordinates, I unearthed a letter revealing a secret—Grandma had adopted my mother. *Love isn’t in our blood; it’s in the moments we choose each other,* she wrote. *You were never just my daughter and granddaughter. You were my heart, beating outside my chest.* Tears blurred my vision. When I showed Mom, she only smiled. “She chose us,” I whispered. Now, I feel Grandma in every small habit she left me. The empty chair still catches me off guard, but it no longer feels like loss. It’s a reminder of a love so deep, even death couldn’t end it
