Emily Stewart- Shrine

            I chose to make a shrine for my grandmother because she has been an important person in my life even though she died before I was able to know he well. She died from breast cancer when I was four, and though my memories of her are vague, I missed her greatly. Many of my memories of my time with her are organized around tangible things, some of which I have and treasure. When I was little, a lot of my time with my grandmother was spent in her living room. She had a box of toys for me to play with, and I would sit on the floor and play while she sat on the couch and talked to me. I have a little toy dragon from that box that would be in my shrine if it was with me here at school. Since I don’t have the actual objects with me, I chose similar ones to stand in for them. The scarf in the bottom of my box represents one of hers that I have. The necklace represents the costume jewelry that I used to play with at her house, which she left to me when she died. The owl represents a little porcelain cardinal that she bought for me at a flea market. When I think of my memories of her, these objects come to mind.

            My grandmother is also important to me because my father looked up to her and tells me a lot of stories about her from his childhood. I chose the cinnamon both because she used to give me cinnamon gram crackers when I left her house and because it’s important to one of those stories. Nanny was a great cook and left us many family recipes, but one night she mistakenly made chili with cinnamon instead of chili powder. The kids told her, but she wouldn’t admit that it was true. She was a bit stubborn, something I can relate to. These kinds of stories are also why I chose pictures of her from before I knew her for the lid of the shrine. My memories of being with her are important, but the memories that others have shared with me are equally so.

            Finally, I chose to include the book Visions of Gerard for several reasons. It is probably my favorite book, and I was never completely sure why until I finished a paper on it at the end of last term and reflected on it again. It is a story about Kerouac’s older brother, who died when they were 3 and 9. Gerard was an inspirational figure for Kerouac, and his mother always held him up as a role model. Though that is not my experience, I think I relate to the way you remember someone you lose when you are very young and learn to look up to through stories because of Nanny. This book is also beautifully written and spiritual, both in Buddhist and Catholic ways. As a religious woman and an avid reader, I think my grandmother would have liked it, and it is something I would share with her if she were here.