LIVERMORE FALLS — Joanne Leighton’s granddaughter, Danielle Ranger, will always be a part of her.

The two had a close bond that began when Danielle was born. Danielle is gone, but the bond remains strong and always will, Leighton said.

Danielle, 16, died Oct. 16 of injuries suffered in a car accident in Peru.

 “The night I got the phone call, I just said so many prayers,” said Leighton, the mother of Danielle’s mother, Tammy Ranger. “It seemed like a long trip to the hospital.”

Leighton said she was always able to fix things. “I just thought I’d be able to fix this, that ‘everything is going to be OK.’ So I guess that is something that is hard for me. There was nothing I could do. She was just such a big part of me and she was gone.”

Leighton wears a locket around her neck that Danielle gave her one Christmas. It has a photo of Danielle and some of her ashes. Leighton also wears an orange “Dani” rubber bracelet on her wrist. Orange and purple were Danielle’s favorite colors.

Joanne Leighton described her granddaughter as a natural beauty who always had a smile.

“When she was born, I knew she was a perfect little girl,” she said. “At that point, there was a bond. I was there when she was born.”

Leighton always made sure she went to whatever Danielle was involved in.

“One morning, it must have been about 5 a.m., I drove to Troy for her first day of school,” she said. “I wouldn’t have missed it.”

She watched Danielle get dressed.

“She was so excited,” Leighton said. “She was so small getting on that school bus. She waved to us, and here is Grammie, probably crying more than the mother.”

Danielle grew up in Weld, moved to Troy, then to the Livermore area and then to Dixfield.

“When they moved back here, I spent a lot more time with her. She’d come here and get on the bus,” Leighton said.

On bad-weather mornings, Leighton drove Danielle to the bus stop in front of the house. Leighton’s vehicle had a recorder in it. Danielle would push the button to leave a message for Grampa.

“The message always said, ‘You’re an old stuck in the mud,’” Leighton said.

Danielle laughed every time, her grandmother said. When Grammie picked her up after school, she would always ask, “‘Did Grampa listen to it?’”

He always did. They, too, had a special bond.

As Danielle grew, she and Leighton did many more things together.

“We did a special school shopping trip each year, just her and me,” Leighton said.

She recalled when Danielle started middle school.

“I couldn’t use the word ‘cute’ for clothes anymore,” she said. “There were no more kisses in view of anybody.”

“Grammie” became “Gram.”

The two talked morning and night and saw each other as often as possible.

“I still talk to her,” Leighton said. “We will just always have our memories. We will protect our memories. No one will ever be able to take them from us.”

dperry@sunjournal.com

Danielle Ranger’s grandmother, Joanne Leighton, and others are organizing a benefit spaghetti supper and silent auction to be held from 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12, at Dirigo High School in Dixfield. The cost is $5 per person.

The proceeds will help the family pay for medical and funeral expenses.

Among the prizes are a cord of wood, Danielle’s grandfather’s Franklin Mint tractor collection and a 1989 limited-edition Barbie doll still in the box. There also will be a Chinese auction.

For donations and more information, Leighton and her husband, Elwood Leighton, can be contacted at 897-6189.

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