Personal Shrine to My Grandmother - Megan Philips

When I began to think about creating a shrine for my grandmother, I thought about how my family already remembers her. When my grandmother was sick and was not able to leave the house, her friend planted and hung orchids, my grandmother’s favorite flower, in the tree outside of her window for her birthday. I know that seeing the flowers brought my grandmother a lot of joy and this in turn made my entire family happy, but we did not realize that these orchids would be a gift that keeps giving. Since 2013, some of the orchids have re-bloomed in the tree multiple times, serving as unexpected reminders of my grandmother. Whenever my family spots one of them, we tell stories about her. These flowers are almost like unplanned memorials, evoking emotion and memory. Because I find the orchids such a powerful reminder of my grandmother, I wanted them to be the central focus of my shrine to her. While my shrine contains fake orchids, ideally they would be live ones. Live flowers would require watering and an active maintenance that could be seen as a metaphor for keeping memory alive. I wanted to create a live memorial, or as close to it as I could, because it appeals to my grandmother’s personality. She was a very practical woman who loved the outdoors. It seems only fitting that I would memorialize her with some of her favorite wildlife – orchids. 

To add to the orchids as memorial, I drew details about parts of my grandmother’s life as well as some of our favorite things done together. All of these incorporate how I remember her – adventurous, active, and caring. On the front, I placed the GPS coordinates of her favorite places, Higgins Lake in Michigan and Ocean Reef in Key Largo. After my grandparents retired, they split their time between these two locations, so as well as these being important to her, they are the places where I knew her as I grew up. Higgins Lake was definitely her happy place, and, per her request, is also where she is buried. Because of this importance, I placed the lake above Ocean Reef. The kayak next to the coordinates represent her love for kayaking with her family and friends. The American Red Cross logo on the other side reminds of her career as a nurse before I was born but also her continuous volunteering with the American Red Cross after she retired. On the back, I chose to write the recipe for Buckeyes, a peanut butter and chocolate candy that my grandmother and I would make together around the holidays. Cooking with her in the kitchen makes for some of my favorite memories, so I wanted to make these permanent on the shrine. I also added the golf club and golf ball to encompass one of her other main hobbies – playing in a golf league. Lastly, I drew the cup of ice next to a wine glass because from a very early age I remember her always ordering a side of ice cubes with her wine. It was one of those quirky combinations– a couple of ice cubes in her white wine – that she always requested that I and many others often remember about her. The flowers as well as all of these items work to remind of my grandmother’s liveliness that I will always admire and appreciate.