As mentioned earlier, we lost our dear Grandma on August 24, 2011. She was 96 years old. As my Aunt Colleen said, "we were very lucky to have had our Grandma for as long as we did." Now she is with Grandpa and I know it was a happy reunion.
I absolutely adored my Grandma. Growing up, whenever someone started mentioning grandmas, she would be the one I would think about. I loved going over to her house, sitting at her kitchen table with her, and just having talks with her which she would later call "our talks." She knew of our struggle to get pregnant, and told me of her struggles as well. I know she would have been thrilled to know her great grandson and daughter, and I feel much comfort in knowing she can see them see them all the time now, and smile at all the things they do.
She taught me how to play gin rummy when I was fourteen years old, when I stayed with her and my grandpa for a week. So funny! I was learning how to play cards for the first time, and Grandpa even had to come and show me how to hold them proper. Since I wasn't sure what I was doing, I should have been discarding after every card I took, and we monitored me close to make sure I had ten cards. When I won with eleven and discarded twice, she laughed and laughed like I have never heard her! We were practically on the floor with tears going down our faces. To this day, I can't play gin without thinking of when she taught me, and giggling just a little about how funny it all was.
She made a roast spread that tasted so good, I still haven't mastered it! I always look back on that, and wish I could have somehow managed to come every summer.
I loved going to visit every chance I could and LOVED how first thing in the morning, her kitchen would be so warm. She would usually have muffins in the oven, and she'd be sectioning grapefruit on the counter. I can't have a grapefruit, to this day, without sectioning it first, and she would put a liberal sprinkling of powdered sugar on the top. She had a grapefruit knife with a crooked end, just for this purpose.
The dish, "Red Chicken," was her signature dish,and when I make it today, it reminds me of dinners at her house, eating at the kid table in the downstairs piano room.
Speaking of food, Grandma had large appetite! She could clear even the most full plate, and still have room for dessert. She was such a tiny little thing, I don't know how she did it!
Loved summer evenings on her front porch, picking pansies, and putting them in my hair, and watching cars go by with a row of lawn chairs behind us.
Later, when we moved, I would write to her, and she would write me back with the words, "Love ya much, Grandma" at the end of each card or letter.
She was an avid reader, and we would talk often about the books each other was reading. I loved that she adored Harry Potter as much as I did, and wished there could have been a way for her to read it or hear the rest of the story in her last days.
She loved to play the piano, and told me later, that she "always knew she had that talent." She learned from her Aunt Clara, and was a quick study.
She was a Utah Jazz fan, and loved watching their games even after Grandpa was gone. :)
I love the heritage she left us, and she was very proud of her pioneer ancestors who came across the plains with the "ill-fated" Martin Handcart Company.
I have many happy memories of my Grandma. I will blog or write them down as they come to me. It seems like every little thing I do or come across reminds me of her. For example, I heard Patsy Cline's "Crazy" on satellite radio just before she passed away, and was reminded of how much she loved her music and recalled how she thought it seemed that the best entertainers always die in airplane crashes, such as Patsy Cline did. It's little things like this that are brought to my memory's surface, and I live that conversation all over again.
I loved her take on things and will miss that greatly in the coming years. I know she is smiling with us still, and she can see our little family. I feel her very near sometimes, and I think my kids can feel this too. She was a special lady, and I cannot even write in words what she means to me.
All I can say is "Love ya much, Grandma. We will miss you. "
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