Monday Memory - A Special Lady

My Grandma passed away this year and I was asked to speak at the funeral. This is what I wrote out to share with everyone. I loved my grandma very much and can't wait to see her again someday. We also know that she is healthy and with the other family members who have gone before her!

Ecclesiastes 3
A Time for Everything
1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

Grandma knew there was a time for everything.

When we were younger we always looked forward to getting together with grandma and grandpa. They always made their visits, whether at our house or theirs, something that we would remember. A few of the memories from those days that I remember are dominoes, hotdogs, conversations about their friends, family and the work they did in Mexico, the walks they did every morning. Going to Texas and Mexico with them was a special thing that will never be forgotten.

I remember her making sure I did the schoolwork that the teacher had sent along and trying to get me to wear a dress or skirt in Mexico, so the men wouldn’t “whistle” at my legs!!

It is funny the things that you remember.

While she was in my city, there were so many more memories made. Even some very unique ones that my children, her great grandchildren, will remember.

Everyone that she met, she made an impact on.

She loved kids and gave our kids an amazingly unique experience that not a lot of kids can know. It was that of a great grandparent. She always made time for them and enjoyed when they came over to bake, or plant flowers. Even if it was as simple as singing hymns and reciting memory verses, she always showed an interest.

My 4 year old daughter, Cutie Pie, even understood how much she meant to us. She said during her last week, that she did not want her great grandma to die. This is because grandma always let the kids know how important they were.

She also had some nurses and caregivers who shared fun memories of her with us. It was fun to see what the newest would be!!

One of her caregivers at the home shared with us a few of the memories she has of our grandma. She remembered the first time she went for a walk, the caregiver was winded and had asked grandma, “Isn’t it time to go back yet?” Grandma of course told her no, and kept on walking.

She would go in to visit her in the evenings and watch the news with her. The caregiver would comment on the going on’s for the day to Grandma. One time while she was sitting beside grandma, she had rubbed her nose. Grandma immediately spoke up and said, “stop picking your nose”. She was so surprised, and she replied, “I’m not picking my nose”, but grandma would not take her answer and said, “Yes you were”. So she said, “Okay,” and just left it at that, but chuckled about it the rest of the night.

She also said that one time when she went with her to the Chapel, grandma was sitting back in her chair with her eyes closed and mouth open. The speaker was a German Lutheran Pastor, who was going on a bit long. Then he dropped his notes and said, “Oh, I dropped my papers”. Grandma burst out with a big laugh. She might have appeared asleep, but she did not miss a thing.

At the nursing home she was affectionately known as Big Mac. The nurses would always tell her to behave when they left the room and she would just smile, make a funny face and stick her tongue out at them!!

Just a week, or so ago, one of her nurses went into her room to check on her. She was resting on top of the bed with her eyes closed. From the doorway it appeared that her chest was not rising and she was concerned that she was not breathing. She went to her bedside and bent down to see if there was any movement. All of a sudden she heard, “Booo”. She jumped and yelled, she was so surprised.

She was also very good at pegging people’s personalities from the moment she met them. Whenever My sister and her hubby went in to visit, she would look at him and say, “here comes trouble”. My sister wondered how she knew him so well.

Another time when our family had gone in to visit, my hubby had leaned over her and asked her if his face was a nice one to wake up to. Her response was a flat out “not really”

But looking past these fun memories we have of her we also see that she meant so much and had as big an impact on just about every other person she met. She was a great role model of what every woman, mother, sister and grandparent should be.

She always portrayed a loving attitude. No matter who you were or what you were like. Whether you had money or you had none, no matter the race or even religion Grandma loved everyone. Even when I, as a teen, went through my different “phases”, she still loved and accepted me for who I was, just as she did for everyone.

I think that everyone’s life has been changed through knowing her. Even if I only speak for myself, I have something to strive for, a goal to reach. An example of what a wife, a mom, a friend, a grandma and great grandma should be.

We only get one shot at life, you need to make every day count and that is something that she did.

I want to end with a poem that describes our grandma and great grandma’s life.

When a stone is
dropped into a lake
It quickly disappears from sight,
But its impact leaves behind
A series of ripples that broaden
And reach across the water
In the same way, the impact of
One life lived for Christ
Will leave behind an influence
For good that will reach
The lives of many others.

Roy Lessin