The Virgo in Us

My maternal Grandma, known to some Rita the Great, Ma, and G-Ma, died of breast cancer June 28^th, 2007.  Her birthday was August 24^th, and she would soon be celebrating her 78^th birthday if she was still alive.  Neither she, nor I, really paid/pay attention to astrological signs, but we are both Virgos and I think we fit into the description quite nicely, actually almost scarily so.  I copied the section below, a description of a typical virgo, from http://www.myaquariusvirgo.com/:

I love the matching hair!

The Virgo woman is a highly organized, systematic and intelligent person able to discern the finer things in life through a methodical and often purposive approach. Dogmatic in character, the professional Virgo female is often described as a career woman, able to command respect and admiration from subordinates, peers and superiors alike for her professional competence.

The Virgo woman is driven by success, more often defined by the financial standing she inadvertently gets. She achieves this through sheer wit and intellect as well as her natural inquisitiveness for the truth. Being gifted with critical thinking abilities and the desirable trait of creative and imaginative thinking fueled by a sharp memory, the Virgo woman can find success in law enforcement, research, investigations, sciences, linguistics, accounting or even book-keeping.

Much like any other Virgo, the Virgo woman plays the role of the ever amiable diplomat settling disputes with uncanny proficiency and without the need for coercion or the use of means other than peaceful ones. This makes her a very significant figure in negotiation tables as well as a major player as a trusted and equally gifted business partner. Her ability to balance and harmonize personal issues with professional concerns makes her an ideal employee or even an excellent business partner.

As a person, the Virgo woman is very active and has a penchant for being a health buff. This is anchored on the perfectionism or the highly organized nature of the Virgo which strives a perfect balance and harmony of the different aspects of one's life. The Virgo woman enjoys talking, walking, and reacting albeit to the detriment of some persons who would rather stay put in one place.

She is generally a charming, witty, realistic, down-to-earth, honest, dedicated, helpful, gentle, organized, systematic, and perfectionist type of person. Out of these characteristics come the not-so-good things about the Virgo woman which includes restless, anxious, worrisome, dogmatic, cranky, irritable, and very critical. It's in her being irritable and overly critical at times that turns off most people.

The Virgo Female is also agreeable and cheerful, necessary traits to complement her unparalleled dignity and charm. She can remain loyal, truthful, straight thinker and determined to her partner in a relationship. Her devotion and reliability to a relationship is sought after by many that they are willing to wait in line to gain the trust and friendship of a Virgo woman.

Virgo woman adores men who are intelligent and well-read. So instead of bringing her expensive gifts, show her what you've got between your ears. She won't stay long with someone she can't respect so be sure to act appropriately when you're with her. If you can handle criticisms well, falling for a Virgo woman would suit you fine. After all, females in this zodiac are known to be perfectionists. Do not take this negatively however because she can bring out the best in you.

When my Grandma died, she willed her house in Old Lyme, CT to her six children.  They rented it out over the past four years and sold it at the beginning of this summer. It was the last (large) physical stamp of her presence and I know it was emotional for her children to sell it due to the symbolic importance (she struggled, but managed to keep a roof over thier head as they grew up). Luckily, they all agreed it was the best thing to do. A few weeks ago I received a check for $250.00 from my Aunt Kitty, who is the executer of my Grandma’s estate.  She sent checks to all of the grandchildren who did not receive money from Grandma for their weddings. 

In the accompanying letter, Aunt Kitty advised us to use it wisely. I thought about that for a while.  If my Grandma was alive, she would encourage me to be responsible and take care of unpaid debts. Luckily, I’m in the black, so I thought she would be okay with me spending it.

Instead of depositing the $250.00, I cashed it, put it in an envelope and kept track of how I spent it and made a mental note of why she would approve.  This is where the money went:

$10.00 – Fresh Flowers

She was an avid gardener later in life. Plus, flowers are beautiful and make people happy.

$ 23.00 – Two bottles of wine for Jeff

She loved wine and she loved Jeff. Jeff loves wine, too. Simple as that.

$96.00 – Manicure and Pedicure for myself and very close friend, Kristin Beattie.

I got my first manicure with my Grandma when I was 13 years old and I’ve basically been getting them every week since. She had beautiful hands and I still remember what they looked like. She loved Kristin, too.

$83.00 – A necklace, of an Irish Thorn, for myself, by one of my favorite jewelers, Michael Michaud.

She always wore jewelry. One St. Patrick’s Day, probably the year before she passed, she wore a vest with jewelry all over it.  She wore tons of rings, bracelets, necklaces, too.  If someone commented or complimented her, she took it off and gave it to them.  I loved that she did that…that’s so Rita.

It looks like a pussy willow

$38.00 – The first deposit of our baby’s saving account.

She managed money like nobody’s business. She was a single Mom of six and could pinch pennies better than anyone else I know. She worked very hard, saved, strategized, prioritized and did whatever it took to make sure that her family came out on top and most importantly had good values, manors and class even when they didn’t have money, which was most of the time. 

Lastly, I’ve been organizing and purging our apartment as we prepare for the arrival of Little Rigs. While cleaning out my desk, I found a USB stick, plugged it in to check its contents, and to my surprise it discovered it was all the files from my Grandma’s computer. Jeff had a made a backup when he helped her buy a new computer back in 2007.  I didn’t snoop or read anything that seemed personal or private, but I did copy two files that caught my attention. They were titled “Books I’ve Read” and “Great Movies”.  Sure enough, they were extremely detailed and organized lists of books she read and movies from 1999 to 2006. She included her thoughts on over 100 books and 30 movies. 

If she were still alive, I know she would be proud of my list-making skills and task-master personality.