Roma Wilhelm Miller – RIP
My grandmother passed away this week. I haven’t been online for a few weeks with the holidays and this, I feel, is a fitting way to return. So then, this is a post dedicated to her and her memory. Though she was a staunch Atheist, I like to think she’s out there somewhere looking down and perhaps even over my shoulder as I write.
Roma was 96 years old when she died. She led a full and long life. She was raised in the mountains of Maryland and Pennsylvania. Her father, I believe, worked in a logging camp and she spent a good deal of her younger years there. At one point she moved to NYC and lived with her mother for time. She was fiercely intelligent and never missed a much, even at 96. She would still do yard work, cook the Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners and just never slow down. She was tough. Mountain folk tough and there is some interesting questions that raises, though I don’t want to get into those here. She passed away quietly in the night on Wednesday, December 17th just after midnight. She had been ill for some time. Truthfully, when you get to be 96, you just don’t bounce back from illness.
I regretfully admit that much of her life isn’t known to me. I was in her life for many years of course, but much of her adult life remains a mystery. It’s one of those quandaries, you always mean to ask a million questions but never find the time to do so. I wonder, and perhaps always will, about many parts of her life. Her college experience, work experience, and all the points in between. It’s shame that all those memories, life experiences, are lost forever. More than a shame, it’s a crime.
All that is left of her is my memories of her. I remember her as being strong, practical, pragmatic, logical and full of life. The world is a little less special without her here.
I will miss you Grandma. Goodbye.
