Today's Photo: The Cooper Matriarch

On this day, in 2002, my Grandmother, Rose Cooper died. I wanted to take a second to remember her today, because she was a great lady. And I miss her very much. And I have nothing but good memories of her.

Ever since, family gatherings have never quite been the same to me, although we are all still pretty close. To me, it was the day the matriarch died, though, and the torch was passed to the next generation, which of course makes us all a little closer to the grave ourselves. But simply, if there was ever a person in my life with whom my relationship was never complicated, never strained, never second-guessed, never judged or never treated without anything but respect, it was my relationship with her.