I lost the most magical lady this week, my beloved Grandma Martha. She was so funny and silly, brave, smart and a wild woman. She loved adventures, going fast and the wind in her face. She loved the wind in her face she told me one summer day on the dock in Minnesota. She didn't like that her body couldn't go fast anymore but on the dock she could feel the wind still. She took care of her father's cabin he built on the lake 95 years ago for 50 years after his death along with her brothers and nephews. They kept it as he left only small changes over the years. She was so proud of keeping it that way. It is a time capsule of family and family art history. Both of which were very important to her. Her home was filled with art from everyone. Everyone was an artist including her. She knit everyday. She taught me to knit when i was very little. Knitting has taken me on some wild adventures. One time my grandma, mom and I went to a knitting convention, we called ourselves the three generations of knitters, we had so much fun. I always had fun with my grandma, especially when it was just her and I out and about. She loved to shop, we went on shopping adventures for yarn and merch. She loved merch. She loved to get merch from a place and wear in that place, that always made me laugh so much. She told me she was a tom boy she taught me you can dress like a tom boy and accessorize like a girl. She had a magical jewelry friend in mexico name Leonard. I remet him as a adult and he told me you are just like your grandma, I got rings from Leonard so me and grandma could match. The rings were something a Cowgirl Mermaid would wear. That was when I first thought about the Cowgirl Mermaid. I was so lucky that even though we never lived in the same place I saw my grandma a fair amount as a kid and adult. I loved to visit her. She had a white bob, she got it set every Friday. She knit me many special sweaters. When I went to Parsons she remembered a tale of a family member that went to Parsons. She found a story written down in the basement of a great aunt that went to NYC from small town Colorado on the train in early 1900s, she went to an art school there. She met a man named Frank Parsons they became friends he was starting a school, she went there. There were horses on the streets of nyc at the time. They exchanged postcards all the postcards were there too. She was from a small town out west after nyc she came back and was a interior designer. It inspired me endlessly I couldn't believe my grandma had that. I took it all to the school historian. Adventures with her were always like that, some magical universe moment. She always made my sister and I giggle endlessly, one time when were little she had us put on a show, we tied a duffle bag around my sister with a rope and hung through the balcony so it looked like Tay was flying in the show, something she read to us from these books we loved called Betsy and Tacy, we loved the idea and then she made it happen. Tay flew from the balcony with her arms out just like peter pan in front of a curtain made of a wool blanket, everyone was thrilled and in awe, it was too much fun. Ill never forget that. She always made me feel like I was special and could do anything. She was a star in any room she walked into. She had her own personal style. She brought a pb+j on a pj. She loved mexico. She loved my grandpa they met when they were 14 and were married for 69 years. She taught herself to ski because she wanted to ski. Not many girls skied then, she loved skiing. She loved riding on a motocycle she bought a harley. She was so so so special. I don't know what it will be like without her but she has inspired everything I do and my work is so much about continuing what the women before us have began. We pick up where they left of with what they taught us. My grandma taught me so much. How to knit and cook. She made sure I knew how to cook. She gave me an handwritten cookbook with all family recipes. She taught me to stay strong no matter what. I wish i called her everyday, but i had those talks on dock, the chats in the car, in the basement, on her couch, in the kitchen. Im going to miss her so much. I love her so much. I will continue what she started, I will finish knitting the sweaters on the needles. I will look out for the cabin and grandpa and everyone else. Thank you for everything Grandma xoxoxoxox Courtney , I think she was THE Cowgirl Mermaid.
