Learning in Love

There are so many things to remember about grandma and grandpa. My closest memories are some of my last with them right now. December 2019 I remember seeing grandpa and thinking that this could be the last time that we saw one another because he wasn’t doing so well. When you live so far away, you just try to ask the important things more often or quicker, so I asked grandpa whether or not he was ready to be done here, ready for the next thing, and he told me with some pause that he really thought he was. 

Likewise, when I saw grandma for the last time, we took her out to the pasture with mom and Aurora. Enjoyed a drive around. Grandma even got out and sat on the cabin steps with us and we took a generational photo that I’ll cherish for a long time. She seemed so happy there and so content watching all of the birds and the animals from the car like she did every time that we rode anywhere with her. It was so healing to have that time with her. Hopeful.

As for younger memories, I’ll always remember Grandma making our Halloween costumes, Christmas pajamas and cookie dough balls for the freezer. Taking us shopping individually for birthdays so that we got time to bond with her. How she taught me to sew with such patience and how she sadly said to me as I grew into my profession that she wished she would have known that was something she could have chosen to do. Little glimpses of the adventure and ambitions that she thought about from time to time, immediately replaced by her love and devotion to Grandpa or the joy that she got from spending time with all of us.

And memories of Grandpa, always making sure that he shared the important pieces of family history, pasture going’s on and good will in conversation. I’ll also always remember him as being no nonsense at church when we were little; you had to be on your best behavior when he was around. Darn was always a bad word, so don’t even think about something worse than that and how he loved doing the booth at the fair where I always loved getting Happy Times from him.

Growing up in this family has always felt like a built in support system. We all make mistakes and falter from time to time, Grandma and Grandpa being no exception to this rule, but love wins out. As we all grew up it was notable how big our conversations got, how much deeper we delved into the world and how much growth this allowed for everyone. That’s not all families and that makes us pretty special.

Know that we love you all and that you always have our support in whatever way we can offer it.