Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Grandma

I’m not good with saying goodbye. More often than not, when moving away, I leave my friends with a quick, “I’ll see you later!” It’s just easier for me to treat final goodbyes like an everyday parting. I think this is partly why I find this post so hard to write.

A week ago last Saturday my mother's mother died. She lived a wonderfully full life and left this earth surrounded by her husband and 8 children. Although her body had been slowly failing as she aged, the end was rather sudden. In typical Grandma fashion, she held on long enough to allow all her children to arrive. As I considered her death and the void she left, I couldn’t help but be thankful for her life.

Down the street from the home where she was raised, Grandma lived her entire married life in a small mining town. Growing up in the mid-west, my memories of Utah center around visits to my grandparent’s town. Sitting at the base of Kennecott copper mine, this town contains a wonderful, and large, central park (probably so fun because it was born before people became too frightened of regular childhood activities) and a quaint, unique church building (that the head of the Church himself had to give the OK to keep open because it is also an old church building).

It was in Grandma’s home that I would freeze in the non-humid, cool Utah summers. It was in their home that I would first be introduced to Anne of Green Gables. It was in their home that I would hear stories of my mother while spending nights in her childhood bedroom. It was from their home that we would visit the copper mine and marvel at tires larger than cars. This is where we visited every 24th of July reunion with my aunts, uncles and cousins; where we gathered on Christmas Eve for divinity and sandwiches with Au Jus sauce. Grandma’s house holds a sacred place in my childhood memories.

It was in their home that I saw, up close, how beautiful a loving relationship can become as it ages. I have always loved watching the relationship between my grandparents. Their marriage has been an example to generations now. The most difficult part of Grandma’s death was realizing the pain their separation inflicted on my grandfather; it was listening to Grandpa reminisce about Grandma that brought me a large measure of peace. I left Grandma’s funeral with a determination to grow my marriage to be like theirs.

My grandmother lives on in her children and grandchildren- and now great-grandchildren. It can be heard in our distinctive laugh (or more accurately, cackle), our playful husband thump (how else to keep them in line?), our love of reading (and chocolate), our devotion to family, and our determination to be happy, to be loving, to be strong. Thank you, Grandma. I’ll see you later.

At the request of our aunts, my very talented sister made this tribute for Grandma in one night. My favorite picture is the one on the top left which shows my grandparents soon after they first met on their missions in the Eastern United States Mission. They are sewing costumes for the Palmyra pageant. My grandfather insists their companions were one step away, you just can't see them in the photo.

18 comments:

  1. I agree with it all. We are very fortunate to have such an upclose example of devotion and love and endurance. We will all definately miss Grandma (and her divinity).

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  2. Thank you for sharing your grandmother with us. I'm calling mine first thing in morning and planning a visit.

    By the way, our similarities keep shining through: both of our moms came from a family of 8 kids. By any chance is your mom #6?

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  3. That was perfectly said thanks for sharing. I love looking at your blog you are such an eloquent writer. The royal frosting tastes like pure sugar when it dries :) or you can add any flavoring to it you want.

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  4. What a great post- it was so nice to hear about your grandma and especially about your grandparents and their relationship- I love that they met on their mission- how cool!

    Thank you!

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  5. That's so sweet. What wonderful memories.

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  6. Very well put. (lol, cackle...)

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  7. That memory board is great. At funerals, it's always interesting to me to see the rest of a person's life that I didn't experience. That's the blessing of a life filled with good people. In the pictures of your grandma and others of her generation it is fun to see what their lives were like as children and at our current age. I'm glad you had a great lady as a matriarch in your family.

    My grandpa passed away last November at age 82. It's difficult imagining how lonely my grandma must be now. She finally requested that we grandchildren set up a schedule to call and check on her each night. Now every Friday, I not only get to know that she is okay, but I get to chat and cheer her up a bit. You might consider whether your grandpa could use the same attention. (Women and men tend to be different in these things, but it's been a blessing for me and for my grandma to start this scheduled talk.)

    I'm sorry for your loss. Isn't it peaceful knowing that you'll only miss her temporarily and that you will indeed be seeing her later?

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  8. What beautiful sentiments. She sounds like a beautiful person indeed. I'm with you. Don't like goodbyes.

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  9. That was well put. She really does leave a void because I always called my mom for comfort. She was always my hero and I tried to be like her. Never could quite make the mark. Grandpa is lonely and misses her also but is glad she is not hurting and is where she wants to be.

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  10. Beautiful post.

    Can I be so bold as to ask where she grew up? My MIL grew up in a little town by Kennecott too.

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  11. She grew up in Copperton, UT. Most people don't know where that is, so it is easier to describe it in relation to the mine (that everyone recognizes).

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  12. Beautiful post. Thanks for sharing a little bit about your grandmother. Loved the picture board. Very nicely done.

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  13. Charlotte you should send this to Grandpa. He would love to put that in Grandma's history.

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  14. Great job on the post, I thought and thought about doing one and finally decided to not do one, I didn't feel I could do her life justice without rambling on and on. She meant so much and her example will continue to light my way. I'm glad you got a picture of the picture board, I didn't take one.

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  15. Ah Christmas just isn't the same without the "sandwiches with Au Jus sauce"

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  16. My Mother-in-law grew up in a little town called Lark, then later her parents moved to Copperton (Lark was covered by tailings from the mine)....small world!!

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  17. That was a lovely tribute to your grandma. Thanks for sharing.

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  18. Thanks for that blog. I absolutely agree with everything you said. You're a great writer. It was nice singing with you at the funeral.

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