My Grandma :)

Sorry, this post had gotten lost from February....

On February 14th, my grandmas passed away. She had been struggling with poor health for many years and the good Lord brought her up to be in Heaven on a beautiful Valentine's day. I had the privilege of speaking at her funeral...here is what I said (I wrote it on my phone so there are several grammatical errors):

A couple of my favorite books in the Bible are 1 and 2 Samuel. Not so much because Samuel had such a clear understanding of God's purposes and calls or how he was dedicated to God and was Israel's greatest judge, but the part I connect with the most is with Samuel’s mother, Hannah. She was a mother that loved well through her very evident love languages of gift giving and quality time. She spent hours hand knitting Samuel a coat before he left as a young boy and although she kept her promise of giving her little boy to the lord, she stretched every last minute with him. This was a legacy she left with her son and it is the same legacy my grandma has left with all of us. The endless hours, my grandma spent hand sewing these quilts, or clothes for our dolls, or making our first blankies has left us all a beautiful and timeless picture of her love for us. And the list doesn’t stop there... Homemade Ice cream on their back porch, delicious birthday cakes, warm freshly made donuts in the mornings after spending the night there, rolladins, caramels and chex mix at Christmas, and rhubarb pie in the summer.  And no one will ever forget her rolls at Christmas (and just on a side note, I have made her famous roles and it is truly a 4 hour, 25 cups of flour labor if love) ...but it didn’t matter to her. When the last role was gone and Michael had eaten all the cranberry jelly, my grandma would always manage to have one more basket of warm roles to bring out to the table.I also believe my grandma loved best through quality time. It never changed from when I was a little girl to just a week ago, every time you would go to see her, her face would light up just because you were there. And even though most of the time spent with her in the past 6 years was spent quietly sitting beside her, you know it didn’t matter to her. She just loved you being there. And just like Hannah, she would stretch every last second with you by standing outside the house with grandpa waving goodbye until you were all the way down the street and around the corner where she could no longer see you. It's also no surprise to me that we all went bowling on Sunday to celebrate my Grandma's life. Some of my best time spent with both my grandparents are of them taking my sister and I bowling at Bear Creek Lanes.For the past 5 years, after overcoming a broken hip, a few hospice admissions and at each birthday, I would always go in joking to my grandma saying, “well grandma, how many more years do you think you’re going to live?” And she would kindly smile and answer back, “hopefully just one more” It is most of our goals to get to heaven, but I think there was no one more excited than my grandma to see her heavenly home...I also personally think that she was so excited because she wouldn’t have to see any more crazy naked men roaming down the hall at her assisted living.A couple years ago I had a dream where i was sitting on a chair in a house I didn’t recognize when I saw a young woman easily skipping up the stairs. It was grandma but much younger, without glasses, and with dark hair. I remember telling grandma this dream and telling her that this was a glimpse into heaven where she would leave her failing earthly body and be able to climb stairs in her perfect heavenly body. It sets such a beautiful picture in my mind knowing that on Valentine’s day, she got to run into the arms of our loving savior and be reunited with her earthly valentine, my grandpa.To end, I just want to say that a while back I know my grandma had said that she wished she would have hugged her kids longer and kissed them more often, however, I know the amazing love that she did show us is being seen in all of us today and being passed down through the handmade gifts to our own children and quality time we choose to spend with them. She is truly leaving a legacy of her own.

My mom getting a strike!