Dorothy Madeline Spencer

Did you know that on a cold January day in 1933 a hurricane swept through Quebe ?
Little did John and Florence realize, their only child would take the world by storm, and this one was more than enough. My Grandma Dorothy (aka "Hurricane Dorothy" as she's known in several states and a few countries) had personality for days, years actually, almost 93 to be exact. Those in her presence never knew what hit them, she came in quick and left a path of positive destruction behind her.
Who else could birth 9 of her own legends in a 10 year time span? Travel across multiple continents as a career military family with Grandpa Notley and a hoard of minions that could make up their own baseball team? What other woman could make a sailor blush, drink the locals under the table at an Irish pub, and smoke her own great-grandchildren at Cards Against Humanity with no mercy? Have you ever met such a person that could become friends with total strangers, make you laugh
until you cry, tell you to F off one minute and that you're FABULOUS the next? What other woman could go toe-to-toe with the lead of an intimidating group of men (not to be named), stealing their shots, telling them off, and show no fear?
I don't know how she did it, but she managed to survive and eventually thrive after the sudden loss of her son. Nine children (7 of them boys), 10 grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren exist because of her... and Grandpa Notley's affinity for physical affection.
Grandma was tough as nails on the outside, but she also felt very deeply. Anytime she mentioned my father's name she cried, and every night she gave his picture finger kisses before going to bed.
Even in her 90s Grandma had the quickest wit, a sharp tongue, saucy attitude, a colossal heart covered in steel, and the strongest sense of humor the world has seen. She could enter any establishment as a stranger-in-a-strange-land and end up
hugging everyone there on her way out. Sometimes she would tell young people her name was Bridgette and she was one of the earliest adult film stars, and naturally, they believed her (1 assure you it is not true, despite her reproductive career). She
could, and would, have fun everywhere she went, whether everyone else liked it or not. I don't know of anyone who didn't like it, but if they didn't then "tough shit" as she would say.
To the die-hard loyal fan of the Detroit Lions (for decades even when they were losing), the "cake lady" for years supporting the Livonia Police Department, cigar smoking, beer drinking wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and phenomenon that she was... there will never, ever be another like her. Of this I am certain.
Hurricane Dorothy will live on in us. I will make sure to carry her torch and Live Like Dorothy; a little crazy, a lot of love, and a ton of fun.
I did my best to warn heaven of the storm heading their way, the hurricane in the afterlife has hit. Heaven just got a little cooler today. Show them how it's done Grandma.
We love you and we miss you... always.