ShopRite Can Can Sale

My Grandmother passed away January 15, 1999 and it is a day that I will never forget. It’s one of those days that I can remember small details that normally you wouldn’t remember a few hours after they happened and most certainly not 14 years later.

My Grandmother was a bit of a hoarder. Not a hoarder like you see on TLC or A&E, so I suppose she would be considered a classic pack rat. She had several rooms in her house that were chock full of items that she couldn’t bear to get rid of. She lived in a split-level ranch and my Mother’s old bedroom downstairs was where she kept her stockpile. Now that I think of it, maybe she was more like those crazy coupon ladies on TLC than a hoarder. If there was a sale on non-perishable items my Grandmother was there and she was loading up.

There was nothing my Grandmother loved more than the ShopRite Can Can sale. It was the closest supermarket to her house and she would buy her beloved tuna fish and soup as if the world was ending tomorrow. She had metal shelving like most people keep in their garages and it was filled with cans. I was always amazed by the amount of stuff that she had because my mother was not into stockpiling food like that and we had four mouths to feed and she only had one. Of course she cooked for her two dogs J.D. and Tasha like they were her children. I swear those dogs ate better than I do on most days.

On the day that she died I left work and rushed to the hospital but didn’t have a chance to see her before she passed. It was late when we left the hospital and we had to pick up her car. My Dad offered to go with my uncle to pick it up and that’s when I realized that my Grandmother died doing what she loved…her car was at ShopRite…and the Can Can sale was in full swing. We laughed when they returned to her house with the car and they opened the trunk. She had managed to get all of the groceries into the car before she got sick and an ambulance was called. My Grandmother was a tough lady and she died after stuffing her truck full of tuna fish, soup, vegetables and dog food. The Can Can sale began today and it made me smile…and I know that she is somewhere smiling too.