I know this is a blog about life in fourth year, but sometimes the real world, including family, has to happen while you're cruising along at breakneck speed.

My grandmother passed away Wednesday night, a total shock to my family. This time last year she was admitted into the hospital and later to a nursing home, where she began to have a comfortable life. I guess her body just couldn't handle it anymore.

While the last couple of years stole away many of her faculties, she was always one for enjoying the moment. She loved the giant fish tank at her nursing home and how colourful the fish inside were. At Christmas, my mom took down a fiber optic colour-changing Christmas tree, which she would watch for ages as the colours sparkled on the tree. In the warmer weather, she and my grandfather would have almost daily picnics in the beautiful garden on the property, where she would literally stop and smell the roses.

Her funeral was lovely. Aside from the traditional hymns and prayers, my extended family's contribution was heartwrenching. My cousin read out a poem that my uncle (her father) had written for grandma when he was 24 years old, in 1981, for Mother's Day. The general theme my family conveyed was that she filled her life and everyone's around her with joy and that we should remember those times.

Take the time to watch the goldfish and the smell the roses, and tell your family that you care about them. It may not mean much at the moment, but these things add up and turn into wonderful memories of each other. I will miss her profusely and I'm still coming to terms with it, but I have a petal from the rose I put on her casket, which will remind me to stop and smell the roses, just like her.