Toast to Patricia Holmes
Given by granddaughter Jessica Granese, March 26, 2022
Grandmom
For those who don’t know me, my name is Jessica. Patricia was not only my grandmother, but she was also my good friend. I grew up living around the corner from my Grandmom, which was such a blessing.
My earliest memories of my Grandmom are memories of playing in the front yard or back yard with my cousins. Playing rummy 500 and Chinese checkers. Grandmom played to win, no matter the game or age of her opponent. Memories down the shore at the Tahiti inn, shuffle boarding, and eating dinner at the Promenade where some of our favorites.
Often times in the summer I would wake up and see a hat bopping up and down from my window. I would laugh, as it was Grandmom getting in her exercise and steps in at the Granese pool! she would let herself in since the Granese family was never awake at 8 am on a Saturday.
While Grandmom and I were always close, it wasn’t until my mid 20s when I really became even closer with her. We would take walks, gossip, talk about her life, talk about my life, over wine and cheese. Lots of wine and cheese! She would always say, let’s have ourselves a little happy hour. She always knew every question to ask, from how my cousins on my dad’s side were doing, to various girlfriends of mine, she never forgot a single detail! She asked me if I was on the dating apps and cut out an ad for my singles friends and I called “Catholic Connections.” She said in quote “At least you know they would be Catholic, not that Catholics are any better than anyone else!”
Patricia truly was one of the smartest people I knew but never made you know it. She was down to earth, very funny, and always liked playing lady. (For those who do not know what that means, it means sitting on your bum and relaxing.) But in all seriousness, she was one of the hardest working people, and loved seeing everybody go to work every day, earning a dollar. One of my most recent adventures with Grandmom and Grandpop was taking them to the polls to vote. It’s a great way to skip the long lines! I can’t help but wonder come fall if Grandmom will receive her mail in ballot to vote? I guess time will tell. Haha!
Our favorite thing of all was to have our happy hours, say a toast and relax and watch the news. So today can everybody raise a glass and say a toast to Patricia Holmes, “We love you!”