Gratitude Day 2: Grandparents

Those who laid the foundation for my journey: Grandparents-I have a bonus set!

I must have some pretty fantastic grandparents to have the parents I do!  I don’t think I celebrate them nearly as much as a should although I often think about them and love to tell people that I still have 4 LIVING grandparents!  That means my kids have 4 LIVING GREAT grandparents, and they are great!  Now, many of you reading this will assume that this means all my grandparents are still living but they are not, my mom’s parents are in Heaven with her.  My grandfather met my Mom there when she arrived as and together they greeted my Granny and Scott!  This post could take days to write but no one would want that so here are a few brief thoughts on them all!

Granny:   

The Birthday Cake

My granny was one of the funniest, sweetest and hard working women I have EVER met.  She was a farmer’s wife, she had to be.  She was a wonderful cook, baker but mostly she was the best Granny!  One summer, Jake and I stayed in Washington for seven weeks and my Granny and Grandpa shared custody with Grandpa Joe and Grandma Martha.  Jake and I had never lived on a farm and often found ourselves bored and alone.  Granny was a cook at the Elks lodge then and when she had work to do we got to go to town to help. 

Granny and Jake at Granny's

Helping her meant setting the tables (I will NEVER forget what side of the plate the silverware goes on), putting salad dressing in containers and then sitting on a stool just talking to her.  I can still hear her voice in my ear telling me to hand her this or hand her that.  I can also feel her fingers cold to the touch placing a few dollars in my hand and telling me to run on down to Funks and find something to keep me occupied.  Jake and I must have rotted our teeth that summer with candy and blown hundreds of bubbles with that gunk that came in a tube with a straw.  Hanging out with Granny, driving back and forth to town and listening to her visit and gossip in that small town way is the reason I moved to a small town.  I wanted to be like her.  

Grandpa: 

My grandpa fought some personal battles much of his life, my mom always said that the grandpa I knew was not the same man he was when she was little.  I got glimpse of the man my mom loved so much sometimes (tender, loving and clear headed) but often he seemed distant, clouded and lonely.  I think I may have some small understanding to his brokenness now, you see my Granny and Grandpa lost two children, one a very small baby and my Mom’s older brother, Michael.  I get how someone could break or hide behind addictions following something like that.  But, on to happier memories for me. ..My grandpa had a big red recliner in the front room with an ashtray always next to it that stood off the floor. I think it had a chrome greyhound as the top handle.  Anyway, one year we were visiting for Thanksgiving and my birthday (which occasionally falls on that day).  Anyway, I was being a pill, basically just a big brat because I hated sharing MY day with everyone.  Well, my grandpa told me to come and sit on his lap and tell him about it.  When I did, he laughed and told me that everyone was coming for my birthday not some old Turkey and then told me a secret in my ear (That Granny and Mommy were making me a cake) but I couldn’t tell anyone he told me or Granny would make us go to bed without dinner.  So, he and I sat and watched some western on TV like Bonanza and I got to believe I was the center of the world for that day!  

Grandpa Joe: 

Well, let me start by asking this, doesn’t everyone have the fire chief and all around good guy as a grandpa?  Grandpa Joe is one of the most patient, loving men I have ever, ever met in my life.  He and my Grandma Martha were married the same year as my parents so I never really realized that not everyone had 6 grandparents.  I was much older when I understood things and I am so wonderfully delighted that our blended family has come together for family reunions and love not every family can accomplish that!  Every visit to Albion always included a trip to the fire house to sit in the trucks, a trip (or 12) to the shop for a candy bar and a pop.  When I first took Rich to Albion and he met Grandpa, he tried for YEARS to convince me to move to Albion and he could take over the shop when Grandpa finally retired-that is how much Gpa Joe is loved!  Oh, my favorite memory of Grandpa Joe is his tirelessly trying to teach me to water ski.  They had a place on Lake Coeur d'Alene long before it was a “destination” and we had great visits there fishing and being in Grandpa’s boat!  Anyway, for days we were in the water-one ski, two skis, from the dock, from the water-every which way to try and get me up.  He had to be so tired and we must have wasted so much gas but he never gave up.  Each try he would say, “You’ll get it this time.”  While I didn’t until our next trip, his love and patience developed a my deep love of being in a boat but more than that it gave me the feeling that no matter how hard something was to keep trying. And, I the knowledge that he knew I could do anything convinced me I could too!

Grandma Martha:  

Grandma Martha is one of the most thoughtful gift givers I have ever had in my life.  She started a few “collections” for me over the years.  She started sending me music boxes when I was very small and each one she would tell me why she picked it.  A special song or a memory she was reminded of when she saw it.  I still have a few of them, one is a little boy and girl on a teeter-totter. They go up and down as it spins.  Grandma Martha told me that it reminded me of Jake and I in the park at Albion before we would try to throw each other off.  One of the biggest impacts Gma had on my life is music.  We shared that, my parents aren’t musical but she played the organ and piano-so wonderfully!  She taught me to play a few songs that summer we stayed there.  We learned to play “Alley Cat”, “Fur Elise” and a few other church songs.  I can sit down at the piano still to this day and feel her whispering in my ears the next note and to teaching me about meter and dynamics.  Gma Martha suffers from dementia today but recently my aunt posted a story about a caretaker sitting her down at the piano and putting some sheet music before her.  She played it, even though she hadn’t sat at the keyboard for ages, she played!  Music speaks to the soul, she didn’t remember playing later that day but for a few minutes her soul was singing as she made music-I just know it!

Grandpa Walt:  

 If you know my dad, you know my grandpa.  They are two of the finest men who have ever walked this earth without a doubt.  My grandpa used to drive he and Grandma Jewel across the country every summer after they retired.  From Atlanta to California and then to Washington to visit all of the relatives along the way.  It was awesome; my kids looked forward to seeing them every year as did Rich and I.  Because they lived in Atlanta and we lived in California I didn’t get a chance to know him well until I was an adult.  Wow, what a brain that guy has-ask him about politics in the 30’s, 40’s 50’s up until today and he can give you perspective that will make you really consider your stance on things.  One year, when Rich and I bought our first house, Grandpa Walt and my dad made us a fireplace mantle.  A few years later (remember he had been retired for YEARS) they put wood floors in Scott’s room because his allergies and asthma were being made worse by the carpet.  When I first talked to Grandpa Walt after Scott’s accident, he said to me, “Oh honey, I am so sorry.  I know I can’t do anything but I am so very, very sorry.”  You know those people who you can hear the sincerity in their voice, he has it.  I got to visit my grandparents in Atlanta for the first time last year (age 90 and 87-I think) and when you are arriving at home of your 90 year old grandparents you aren’t sure what you are in for.  But, I was in for a lovely time visiting, listening to stories about how they ended up in Atlanta years before but mostly drinking in the love they have for their family.  When I got up to leave the next morning long before dawn to catch my flight there they were in the driveway waving to me as I drove away.  Wow, I hope I can pass that love onto my grandchildren someday.

Grandma Jewell:   (Picture loading too slow...will post tomorrow again)

I love my Grandma Jewel too!  While I don’t love any of my grandparents more or less than another, I have very unique relationships with all of them!  Grandma Jewel my favorite puzzle grandma.  Each year before their trip to California Mom and I would go and pick out a few new puzzles for her to work on while she was visiting.  She and I would sit for hours and put the edges together and talk about the kids.  She would always tell me about what all my Aunts and cousins were doing in Washington and Atlanta.  Did I mention that I still make my Grandma Jewel’s lasagna (well, her recipe has cottage cheese and I use ricotta) but I do that recipe because she and I made it one year on her trip together for dinner.  I loved watching her show me how to brown the meat and how to keep the noodles from sticking together (I still fail at this). Everyone should be so lucky as to have a Grandma Jewel to provide solid, sound advice!

Day 3:  People who give of themselves.