This past week has left me feeling rather nostalgic. My family found out on Monday that there is nothing more that the doctors can do for my Grandma E. in her fight against cancer and they can only give her 2 to 3 more weeks to live. The thing that amazes me the most is that she is the one that is trying to comfort us through this whole thing. I went up and visited on Wednesday and she let me know then that she was ready to face whatever came her way. She knows that she has had a successful, fulfilled, happy life. She is such a strong woman even at her weakest point.
I want to make sure that I get some of my memories recorded while they are still fresh. And I want to thank all of my cousins and siblings for sharing their memories over the last week which has helped me remember some things that I had tucked away.
One of my earliest memories was spending long hot summer days just hanging out in Grandma and Grandpa's yard. They had a ton of grass and lots of shade and it was the perfect spot for all the kids to play. She would let us take blankets out and lay out on the lawn and play and visit. We spent hours sitting outside snipping beans or husking corn so that our mom's could help her can it or put it in Seal-A-Meal bags to go in the freezer.
Sundays were always spent at Grandma's. Sometimes we went up for dinner but most of the time we just went up to visit which always included cake and Farr's Chocolate Chip ice cream. And Grandma always got the corner pieces of the cake. And if there were two kinds of cake she always wanted "just a little piece of both, but make sure that it is a corner." If we were lucky Grandma would make home made ice cream for us, that was a special treat and man did we LOVE it. After dessert was out of the way our favorite thing to do while the adults talked was combing Grandma's hair. We would fight over the comb and she was always fair about making sure we each got a turn. Even though we loved to do it I think she enjoyed it more, give us 20 minutes with the comb and Grandma would fall asleep sitting up!
If we ever got hungry while we were at Grandma's we could always talk her into making us a sandwich, home made raspberry freezer jam or peanut butter and honey. Some of my other favorites were sloppy joes and her orange jello salad with marshmallows.
My Grandma is an amazing quilter. There was rarely a time when we were little that there was not a quilt on when we got to Grandma's. I have been the recipient of a few of Grandma's quilts. We used to hide out under the quilts while our mom's worked on them with Grandma. It was like our own little secret hide out down there. I wish that I had even half of the talent that she has in that department. Her quilts are definitely a work of art.
Grandma is also very good at telling stories. She loves to tell us about how she met my Grandpa and about the time they spent dating. She would pull out her yearbook from Davis High and open it to the picture of Grandpa in his basketball uniform and say "look at those legs! Aren't they just sexy!" I love looking at pictures of my grandparents when they were young, we would look at them and tease my Grandma about what a hottie she was when she first married my Grandpa. She would just laugh and tell us how lucky she was to have fallen in love with my Grandpa.
I don't think that there were ever any strangers in my Grandma's life or anyone that she didn't know. No matter where we went she always made it a point to meet new people. I remember taking my cousin to the airport, back when you could do that, when he was leaving on his mission. As we were walking towards the terminal there was a whole line of missionaries waiting for their flight to get there. Grandma noticed that they didn't have parents there to send them off so she went over and introduced herself to them, asked them each where they were serving their missions and wished them good luck on their missions. When we asked her why she did that she said that she didn't want them to feel bad that their families weren't there to see them off.
If you asked my Grandma if she knew someone most of the time she could tell you where they lived, who they were related to and what ward they were in. She made it a point to get to know everyone she came in contact with and was always willing to help out whenever needed.
I love you so much Grandma. I hope that the rest of the time that we have with you can be meaningful and pain free for you. You have taught me some of the most important lessons in life. Be strong, don't worry about the little stuff and be a friend to everyone. I pray that I become half the woman you are!
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