My Grandma was and is an inspiration

On the eve of my grandmother's funeral, I am sitting in the dark listening to calming instrumental music. 
My boys are sleeping and I just can't bring myself to lay down yet. 
I didn't get to say goodbye. She went so quickly. 
In visiting about Grandma with relatives and looking at pictures, it is comforting to revel in the fact she had a good life full of family, friends and adventure. 
For me, Grandma was more than a grandma. She helped me through life when I didn't have a mother at home. She served as my motherly figure. And she did a damn fine job. 
Although we fought bitterly sometimes, she was so important to me. She will always be important to me. 
Despite our spats, she taught me self-reliance and self-preservation. 
She taught me the importance of slowing down and taking the time to do something right the first time. She also taught me to accept my mistakes, learn from them and move on. 
Grandma's storytelling has truly inspired me throughout life. 
Her stories about growing up on the same land I grew up on fascinated me. I soaked in the descriptions of farm life during The Great Depression and even the war years. I enjoyed hearing about her exploits, like riding calves when Grandma Annie told her not to, which resulted in a long scar down her arm. The calf bucked her off and she landed in barbed wire. 
Uffda. 
Grandma later told me she lied to her mother and said she fell on prickly bushes when she took out garbage to the scrap pile. 
Grandma's storytelling inspired me to become a storyteller. 
I envied her ability to easily describe scenes. My imagination soared when she described the tomte (Swedish gnome) her father said lived in his trunk he brought from Sweden. 
She often encouraged my writing, and she was happy it became my chosen profession. 
In turn, I was immensely proud of her published article, "Mama's Cupboard" and unpublished book about a girl named Lizzy who has adventures with a tomte. 
We were much the same in that we often could express ourselves better in writing than out loud. 
I will miss her boisterous laugh at our ridiculous story ideas, the crazy dreams we had when we slept and when we watched Hyacinth on the British sitcom, "Keeping Up Appearances."
Thank you for the memories, Grandma. You have been, and will continue to be, an inspiration.