Nora Diamond

Last week I went to the wake of Nora Diamond. My Grandmother, she was never called Grandmother, she was called Granny. Granny wasn't a cookie baker, a blanket knitter or a flower planter. She never nodded in agreement when she disagreed with you, she never coddled you when the truth would do and she never said 'why me'.
Granny wasn't born with a silver spoon in her mouth, in fact, she probably had to work for her first spoon. She was a hard worker and valued hard work. Granny new that integrity and honor were your core and if you sacrificed one you didn't value the other.
Granny was a strong woman and may even have appeared to be a hard woman. Maybe she was both, but you find me any woman who raised 6 children to adult hood by herself after saying good bye to 3 and she's going to be a little tough.
She married at 26 and had 9 children within 12 years. she fed, clothed, educated, guided, reared, loved, and prayed earnestly for them all. Granny did not have an easy life, living in Belfast was far from luxury living and hand to mouth was the way of it. In the worst of her life, Granny never gave up her faith in God, in fact, some of my strength in faith comes from her.
She had 6 living children, William, Colum, Mary, Gerard, Anthony, and Brendan, the 3 that she is reminiscing with today are Ethna, Patrick, and Finian.
She brought her 6 children to Canada in the mid 50's and there they flourished. They found wives and a husband and began lives of their own, and as with all families, they made their own ways. They had children and Granny loved and rejoiced in each one. Whether we were close by or 3000 miles away, she passed on to each of us a portion of her strength and courage. Each one of her children and grandchildren are a legacy to a woman who I was proud to call Granny, a woman who I never knew well enough, a woman who gave me my Dad, a woman who, I believe, is having a cup of really strong tea with the Lord and a woman, who when life gave her a challenge, accepted it and came out stronger.
I will miss my Granny, I will miss the short phone calls, because, as she always said, we can't talk long as they must be costing you a fortune...I will miss the beautiful Irish lilt in her scratchy voice, and I will miss the stories of all the ones she knew. I am thankful for having known her and I will remember to value hard work and when I give my word i will honor it. I will remember that God will hear my prayers.
I will remember Granny with joy, happiness and maybe a little sorrow.
I will remember Nora Diamond and I will tell my daughter about her because, my Granny was the kind of person worth knowing and remembering.
She was a good woman. A really good woman.