Grandma’s Rainbows

It’s been a little more than a month since my Grandma passed away. I’ve worked through the grief in a number of ways, but I’m still holding true to the promise I made to her. Whenever I feel sadness coming on, I simply dig into my memories and find one that makes me happy.

While cleaning out my closets and drawers, I came across some old crystals that at one time created one of my Grandma’s favorite things: rainbows. She always hung crystals from her window, so the sun would catch them and throw rainbows all over the floors, walls, and ceiling.  I remember her teaching me how to hang them with fishing line and how to swing them so the rainbows would race across the room in a crazy cyclone of color.

Grandma’s Rainbow Makers
Photo by: c.b.w. 2013

The heart crystal was my Grandma’s favorite. I have to agree with her because it creates the largest and brightest rainbows when the sun hits it just right.

When I moved into my own home, I tried to hang crystals from the window, but my cat would not leave them alone. Every day she’d swat at them until they came down, so I had to put them in a drawer to keep them from breaking. I learned to live without the rainbows for the last 8 years, but I decided it was time to bring them back. My cat will learn just how “fun” a squirt bottle can be if she even thinks about swatting!

My Grandma gave me five different crystals long before she died, but I also inherited a couple of new ones. They all now hang from my kitchen window with “invisible string.” Come late afternoon, Grandma’s rainbows scatter throughout my house. I like to think of them as a little “hello” from her each day.

A very bright hello from Grandma!
Photo by: c.b.w. 2013

Note: This particular rainbow came from the heart-shaped crystal. It was at least 8 inches long and 4 inches wide! I did nothing to alter the color or lighting in this picture. The colors really were incredibly vibrant, even in a dark corner. It’s easy to see why that particular crystal was Grandma’s favorite!

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c.b.w. 2013