Monarch butterflies always remind me of my grandma, who passed away nine years ago almost to the day.(8/23/15) We would tag and track the butterflies each summer when I was growing up (in Michigan, where milkweed is abundant). During the school year she would come into my elementary classroom with a display and do a whole presentation on the life cycle of the monarch butterfly. I have a monarch tattooed on my forearm. Today during the hardest, hilliest miles of my run, this one landed on me.