my sunshine

this posting is dedicated to my grandpa, louie kramer.



born on july 24, 1907, and married to my grandma coletta for 67 years before she passed away.

last friday (october 17th) my grandpa suddenly got very sick. when i left him just two weeks ago, i thought he would live forever. at 99, he still had spice, a memory that could run circles around many of his grandkids (and even his 50 great grandkids), and vigor for life! On his 99th birthday (last July) he descriptively talked about his wild younger days, and despite his continual warning that he could die at any minute (which he has been saying since he turned 80), he also joked that he would probably live until 105. We always sang with my grandpa. He loved to sing; he yodeled, and recalled german songs from his childhood. tara and I sang him bluegrass, old folk tunes, and traditional ghanan songs.

i loved my grandpa dearly.



my grandpa just passed a way two days ago, an especially difficult experience from so far away. along with distance, making phone calls from here is really tough; we only have 40 phone lines for 1000 people. in addition, i have found it nearly impossible to find even minutes to be alone-a difficult state to deal with death. it has been an incredible struggle for me.

but, with that said, i have had some heros on my side. my friends here (and at home) have really gone out of their way to be supportive, offering me comforting words, opening the privacy of their rooms when their roommates are at work, bringing me dinner so i don't have to go to the galley and eat with hundreds of people, and covering my shifts at work so i can call home.

oh and my family, my family has also been amazing! my dad managed to call me here, in person, just moments after grandpa died (a miracle), and kept me informed so i felt i was there. my brother, tim, who is also in antarctica (palmer station) identified with my circumstances; he suggested places to find privacy, and brought great perspective both to our now, and to grandpa’s life. my sister, tara, represented both tim and i while we are away-singing to grandpa on his deathbed and at his funeral. if only we could have been with her. and my mom, she was there, supportive as always.

all in all, i am feeling much better now. i listened to music, sang for my gramps in our little greenhouse here, and sent some photos home for the funeral. i feel lucky to have had an amazing grandpa that really choose to live all the way up until the last hour, and he always had such good humor. what a standard i have to live up too.



the night before night before grandpa died, around 10:30pm, i took this photo from just above the ross ice shelf bay. it was about 10:30 at night. normally, the sun here just circles in the sky always appearing as mid-day, but that night the clouds created the closest experience to a sunset that i have yet seen. i was at the coffee house and decided to walk (in the freakish cold) a half a block to the nearest open shot of the sea ice...it just happened to be the chapel (farthest south in the world) cozied admist warm light and large glistening snow drifts.