A Grandmother's Legacy: 365 Notes To Live By

156 Pages·2012·0.6 MB·English

by  Andrews, Buffy

A Grandmother's Legacy: 365 Notes To Live By
Title Page
FOREWORD
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A GRANDMOTHER’S LEGACY

365 Notes to Live By
Buffy Andrews
Copyright 2015 Buffy Andrews

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Cover Art by Joan Alley

Editing by Jacqueline Hopper

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or
dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are the
product of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Published by Prism Book Group
First Edition, 2015
Published in the United States of America
Contact info:
FOREWORD

This book contains 365 notes also included in the fiction book Ella’s Rain by
Buffy Andrews. These are notes written by Grandma D to her granddaughter
Ella, to be shared in the year after her passing.
We are publishing these notes separately, as we hope Grandma D’s legacy
will inspire many.
Don’t forget to check out Ella’s Rain, releasing in February 2015. You’ll
find an excerpt in the back.
AUTHOR’S NOTE

I’m often asked how much of what I write comes from personal experience. I
don’t think you can be an author and not have who you are be a part of what you
create.
Ella’s Rain includes 365 letters Grandma D wrote to Ella before she died.
Grandma instructs her best friend, Maddie, who becomes Ella’s guardian upon
her death, to give Ella a new note every day.
When I started writing Grandma D’s notes in Ella’s Rain, I thought about my
sons and what I’d want them to know if I wasn’t able to grow old with them. I
also thought about my sister, Wendy, and her husband, Brad, and all of my
friends who have passed away and the children they left behind. What would
they want their children to know? How would they want their children to live?
What I discovered while writing the notes is that many of them were born out
of actual conversations I’ve had with my sons over the years. When I completed
them, I felt not only good about the guidance Grandma D had provided Ella, but
also a sense of pride in the legacy I’m leaving behind.
I hope Grandma D’s notes inspire you to be a better person and to live life
thoughtfully and with purpose and passion. I hope you share this book with those
you love and that they in turn share it with others. Together we can bring
Grandma’s D message to the world.
Find good in bad, success in failure, joy in sorrow, life in death. And
remember, the light is most clearly seen in the darkness.
I wish you a life of love and laughter.
Grace and peace to you always,
Buffy
GRANDMA’S NOTES TO ELLA

Note # 1

My dearest Ella,
I wish we would’ve had more time together, but we both know we don’t
always get what we want. I know you’re in good hands with Maddie. She loves
you as if you were her own. Always has.
I wanted to leave you with some of my thoughts, things for you to think
about as you journey through life. I plan to write three hundred and sixty five
notes so you’ll have a new one to read every day for a whole year following my
death. I pray I’ll be able to finish them before it’s time for me to say goodbye. I
hope they comfort and guide you, and provide the wisdom I will not be there to
share.
Ella, I love you so very much. My life has been a thousand times richer
because you were a part of it, and I wouldn’t have wanted to change a single
thing. Stay healthy, be happy, and live life like there’s no tomorrow.
Love you bunches and bunches,
Grandma
*

Note # 2

My dearest Ella,
Always do the right thing. It might not be what’s easiest.
I remember the time you took a bookmark from Maddie’s house without
asking. You were about seven, I believe. I found the bookmark and recognized it
because I’d given it to Maddie. When I asked you about the bookmark, you
confessed. You begged me to return it to Maddie because you didn’t want to
face her. I refused. Instead, I drove you to Maddie’s, and you returned it, and
apologized. It wasn’t easy and you cried a lot, but you did it.
Well, Lord knows you’re not seven anymore, but I pray you’ll never forget
the bookmark and the lesson you learned that day. Always do the right thing,
Ella. Even when it’s difficult.
Love you bunches and bunches,
Grandma
*

Note # 3

My dearest Ella,
There’s no shame in failing as long as you learn from it.
Remember when you received an F on your biology exam because you didn’t
study? You thought you knew the material well enough and decided to go
shopping with your friends instead of studying. It was the first and only F you
ever received. I can still picture you crying as you pulled the test out of your
pink backpack.
We all fail, Ella. Lord knows I’ve failed many times in my life. But a failure
is only a failure if you don’t learn from it.
When you fail, as I know you will, I want you to pick yourself up and try
again. And again and again. Don’t let failing or the fear of failure keep you from
pursuing your dreams. Where would we be if the great inventors stopped trying
after they’d first failed? Failures make us stronger and wiser. They’re the
building blocks of success. So embrace them and learn from them.
Love you bunches and bunches,
Grandma
*

Note # 4

My dearest Ella,
Help others if you’re able.
I’m always amazed by people who don’t hold open the door for the person
behind them or offer their bus seat when it’s standing-room-only to an elderly
person or mother with a small child. How rude. I hope, as you live your life, you
help others if you’re able. You’ll be surprised by the little things you can do to
brighten someone else’s day.
Love you bunches and bunches,
Grandma
*
Note # 5

My dearest Ella,
Don’t be afraid to love.
I’ve been worried about this. I don’t want you to be afraid to love someone
because you fear you’ll lose them. Lord knows you’ve lost a lot of loved ones in
your life. But, please, Ella, after I’m gone, don’t give up on love. Don’t let the
fear of losing someone keep you from loving them. Love is the greatest gift of
all, and if you’re lucky enough to find it, hold onto it with everything you’ve got.
Love you bunches and bunches,
Grandma
*

Note # 6

My dearest Ella,
Always count your blessings.
I’ve told you this so many times I’m sure you grew sick of me saying it. But
it’s true, Ella. Always count the blessings in your life. Never take them for
granted. People spend so much time thinking about what they don’t have that
they miss enjoying what they do have. Be thankful for the life you were given
and cherish each day as if it was your last.
Love you bunches and bunches,
Grandma
*

Note # 7

My dearest Ella,
In order to grow beautiful flowers, you need both sun and rain.
You asked me one time when you were little why it had to rain, why it
couldn’t be sunny all of the time. Do you remember what I told you? I told you
that both rain and sun are needed to grow beautiful flowers. Too much of either
one isn’t good. We’re like flowers, Ella. And sometimes it’s sunny and
sometimes it rainy. But it’s the rain and the sun, the good and the bad, that help
us grow into the people we’re meant to become.
Love you bunches and bunches,
Grandma