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| Grandpa is definitely the head of our family and has respect. He was born in
Valton, WI about 20 minutes from where my parents live now. Over Thanksgiving a
group went to Valton unfortunately before I was home. He showed them where he
was born and about the family history in the area. Everyone loved hearing his
stories.
He was also part of our funniest moment over Thanksgiving weekend. Most of
us were hanging out in the family room. My aunt and cousin were egging Grandpa
on to make a funny face so they could take a picture. Grandpa sets his coffee
cup down. Then he takes out his bottom dentures and made some funny faces. It
was hilarious (and a little gross too). We were all rolling on the floor
laughing. He is a witty guy but this came out of nowhere and he didn't hold
back.
I love seeing my Grandpa at the center of attention.
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| This weekend my grandma passed away. She was 91 years old. She had been
diagnosis with Altimizer's for the last 6 years of her life. I will remember
her as a very active woman that loved her family, friends and the Lord. She
lived about 5 hours from us but was very intentional at being part of our lives,
keeping in correspondence, and traveling to see us. Some of my favorite
memories include my brother, sister and I spending a week at our grandparents'
each summer as kids. We always got to make frequent trips to Baskin Robbins and
Dairy Queen. We helped Grandma in the garden, canning, picking cherries,
pitting cherries or helping with whatever she was doing. My grandparents loved
to show us off so the week we came to visit they would always sign up to greet
at church. That way everyone got to meet their grandchildren. Grandma always
stocked Honeycomb cereal at her house. We loved it but mostly because we only
had it at her house. Grandma would send coupons for the Honeycomb cereal to my
mom and tell her it was our favorite. However we liked it because it was
special at Grandma's and having it at home just didn't make it special anymore
so Mom rarely bought it.
When Grandma and Grandpa came to visit, my
brother, sister and I would fight over who got to sit next to Grandma. The real
bonus seat was between Grandma and Grandpa.
Grandma was consistent with
writing in her diary each day. She was a very sensible woman and shared mostly
facts like the weather, how much she canned that day, and who she saw. Once my
mom found her diary from the time period that Grandma and Grandpa dated (they
dated for 2 years and were 26/27 when married). She thought she would find some
really juicy stuff but it still was the same factual stuff.
She was a
twin like me. I never met her twin sister because she died around 30 years old
from a doctor error. I'm sure hoping that it is true that twins skips a
generation because she and her sister were big babies (8 1/2# and 7 1/2#) like
my sister and I. We all cried alot too.
In 1998 my grandparents made a
grandparents' memory book for each grandchild. It told about the family
history, their childhood, how they met, raising their family, etc. I wanted to
share something from the book. One of the questions was "What are some of the most valuable lessons taught you by your parents?" Response: "They taught me the way of salvation and encouraged me to become a Christian when I was young." Praise God!
Be in prayer for my family the next couple of days. | | |
| Saturday I leave for Waveland, Mississippi for one week. I finally
will get to see and experience what I have heard so much about. There
is a group of maybe 15 people from church going. I'm trying to go with
little expectations except to do whatever asked and to build
relationships. However that fights with my instincts to plan and
prepare. At times like this I realize how much of a control person I
can be by wanting to know every detail and I learn how unspontaneous I can
be. I think it is more of a trust issue. Anyways one detail I know
that makes me excited is that Shannon is riding down with us so I'm
looking forward to spending some more time with him.
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| Some things are understood not by grasping but by allowing oneself to be grasped. - Karl Rahner
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