“Thank you, Grammy,” I said, marveling at her energy and
selflessness. “You’re too good to us.”
Her response has always stayed with me: “How could I be ‘too good’ to my family?”
This is the way that my grandma has lived her life—always working, always serving the people that she loves most. Today is her 84th birthday, and I swear she hasn’t slowed down a bit in recent years, despite her advancing age. She is spunky, spry, and sharp. She’s also shrinking (don’t tell her I told you that), and she was only 5 feet tall to begin with, so she is truly the cutest, tiniest old lady you’ve ever seen. Don’t believe me. See for yourself:
Her response has always stayed with me: “How could I be ‘too good’ to my family?”
This is the way that my grandma has lived her life—always working, always serving the people that she loves most. Today is her 84th birthday, and I swear she hasn’t slowed down a bit in recent years, despite her advancing age. She is spunky, spry, and sharp. She’s also shrinking (don’t tell her I told you that), and she was only 5 feet tall to begin with, so she is truly the cutest, tiniest old lady you’ve ever seen. Don’t believe me. See for yourself:
Here’s just a short list of the ways that my grandma has
been “too good” to me and my family over the years:
-When we were young and our mom was in the hospital for a bone marrow transplant, we lived with my grandparents, and Grammy was our “mom” for a few months. I remember her gently brushing and curling my hair. I remember her sitting on a chair beside the piano, tapping her knee and counting aloud to keep time as I plunked out simple little songs to prepare for my lessons. She diligently cared for us with love during that very difficult time in our young lives.
-Even when my mom was healthy, we often spent the night at Grammy’s, playing games ways past bedtime and eating “sugar cereal” in the morning. :) At the beginning of December, she’d invite all of the girl cousins to her home for a sleepover, and we’d help her decorate the Christmas tree. It was a very fun and unifying tradition for us as kids.
-Speaking of holidays, Grammy would always prepare huge meals for the entire extended family for special occasions. I can’t imagine the hundreds of hours she has put in over the years cooking for her loved ones. Some of our favorites are her stroganoff, orange rolls, homemade caramels, and strawberry jam. Mmmmm.
-When we were teenagers, Grammy and Grampy would come to all of our extra curricular events—plays, concerts, voice recitals, Homecoming assemblies…Anything that we were excited about, they were excited about. Grammy would also usually come to see us before school dances so she could gush over our pretty dresses and take our picture. It really meant a lot to us to have our own little cheering section at the special events throughout our teen years.
-After my little sister Laura left home, Grammy invited my dad to dinner at their house every Sunday so he wouldn’t always have to eat alone. She fed him Sunday dinner each week for six years. Now that my older sister and her family are living with him, Grammy doesn’t need to host Dad every week—but she still has the family over for a feast quite often.
-These past two years, Grammy and Grampy have been Noah’s #1 babysitters. They absolutely adore him, and it is so sweet. I don’t know many 84 year olds who beg to watch a two year old. He loves being in their home, especially because Grammy will always set up the “tracks” for him and they will race cars together.
-When we were young and our mom was in the hospital for a bone marrow transplant, we lived with my grandparents, and Grammy was our “mom” for a few months. I remember her gently brushing and curling my hair. I remember her sitting on a chair beside the piano, tapping her knee and counting aloud to keep time as I plunked out simple little songs to prepare for my lessons. She diligently cared for us with love during that very difficult time in our young lives.
-Even when my mom was healthy, we often spent the night at Grammy’s, playing games ways past bedtime and eating “sugar cereal” in the morning. :) At the beginning of December, she’d invite all of the girl cousins to her home for a sleepover, and we’d help her decorate the Christmas tree. It was a very fun and unifying tradition for us as kids.
-Speaking of holidays, Grammy would always prepare huge meals for the entire extended family for special occasions. I can’t imagine the hundreds of hours she has put in over the years cooking for her loved ones. Some of our favorites are her stroganoff, orange rolls, homemade caramels, and strawberry jam. Mmmmm.
-When we were teenagers, Grammy and Grampy would come to all of our extra curricular events—plays, concerts, voice recitals, Homecoming assemblies…Anything that we were excited about, they were excited about. Grammy would also usually come to see us before school dances so she could gush over our pretty dresses and take our picture. It really meant a lot to us to have our own little cheering section at the special events throughout our teen years.
-After my little sister Laura left home, Grammy invited my dad to dinner at their house every Sunday so he wouldn’t always have to eat alone. She fed him Sunday dinner each week for six years. Now that my older sister and her family are living with him, Grammy doesn’t need to host Dad every week—but she still has the family over for a feast quite often.
-These past two years, Grammy and Grampy have been Noah’s #1 babysitters. They absolutely adore him, and it is so sweet. I don’t know many 84 year olds who beg to watch a two year old. He loves being in their home, especially because Grammy will always set up the “tracks” for him and they will race cars together.
We will miss Grammy and Grampy so much now that we are
living in Idaho. (Yes, we moved this
week. More on that in another
post!) I am very sad that we won’t be
with the family to celebrate Grammy’s birthday today, but I am so grateful that
I lived five minutes from my grandparents while I was growing up and five
minutes from them again these past two years during Ryan’s residency. We are richly blessed.
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| Grammy holding me as a baby |
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| Game night at Grammy's! |
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| Mom took a photo to memorialize the day that we realized I had passed Grandma in height |
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| Love her. |
Last year, all the girls took Grammy to breakfast on her big day and forced her to wear a tiara. (Cutest!) Wish we could do this again this year! Happy Birthday, Cute Grandma! I love you!!
Oh! I love this! Your Grammy is so cute and sweet. I actually saw her at Church yesterday. Love you all!
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