Although I know Memorial Day was created to honor those who have served our country, I always remember going to visit graves of all of the family buried around us on this day when I was a kid. My mom and dad would tell stories of their grandparents or aunts and uncles and these stories always stuck with me. And today, although I am not in Franklin to visit any graves, I want to take a moment to shares memories of the ones I have lost that meant a lot to me.
Grandma Marj- Grandma was the first person in my life that I loved that died. I was very lucky because this didn't happen until I was 15 years old. My mom can go on and on telling stories about her and I love to hear them. What I remember most is Skip-Bo. Isn't that ridiculous? I just remember sitting around her kitchen table playing that game and she almost always won and then she would throw her head back and laugh. She loved Christmas and birthday parties and reunions. She had beautiful plates and knick-knacks and painting all over her house so I thought of it as a museum. Her yard was covered in bird feeders and little animal statues. She hated when I cried and told me so very bluntly. Whenever she came to a party at our house, she brought deviled eggs and fed half of her meal to my dog Ginger. She was strong and knew exactly what she wanted. I always wanted to be more like her.
Granny-Granny was a talker, but I loved her stories. She could talk for hours and I always had to cut her off so we could get home in time for supper. When she had to move to Assisted Living, I took out photo albums from her house to her on several occasions and she would flip through and tell me about each picture. Although she talked a lot about her past, she also told me stories about something her sons had told her the day before or who came and visited and what they were wearing. She always knew what was going on around her. Actually the last time I ever remember visiting her, I brought out my new Kindle and showed it to her. I remember her laughing and saying "Isn't that something?" She lived next door to us for a long time so I saw her a lot. Brigitte always wanted to go over to her house and would ride her bike the 10 feet over and walk in by herself. Granny had a white poodle named Pongo and she always wanted him to look nice so she was giving him baths, cleaning dirt from his eyes, and fluffing up his fur all the time. She taught me how to play Old Maid, and come to think of it, I don't think I've played since she passed away.
Moriah-I only knew Moriah for 3 years, but it feels like much longer than that. We met at a Subway somewhere in Iowa I believe. We went on a bus trip to Washington D.C. together and she came up and asked a group of us if we had any Tylenol because she had a headache. I can't remember if I gave her any medicine, but I remember walking back to the bus chatting with her and then the next stop and tried to find her again. She was magnetic in that way. By the time we got to D.C., we were constantly together. We became bus seat buddies and travel partners. When we got back to Nebraska, she made sure we stayed in touch. We took trips to the lake and the movies and the mall all the time. We went to UNL together and I always felt better that she was there. She picked me up when some other friends ditched me and I took her to get her car when it was towed. And she called me all the time. She would talk so much, I'd put her on speaker phone because my hand got tired. We often met to "study" but only ate candy and talked about boys or fashion (her favorite topics). The day before she died, she called me and was so excited because we were both going to live in the same apartment complex. I miss her smile all the time.
Nancy-My Aunt Nancy was a motherly figure in my life. She would always give me a hug when she saw me and ask me about my life. She took great care to listen to every word. I know she was that way with everyone because we were all so comfortable around her. She also made me laugh often with her animated stories and perfect facial expressions as she told a story. I remember when she'd call my dad would answer the phone with enthusiasm and then laugh the whole conversation. She always picked out really unique presents including clothes and books that fit me perfectly. Every event since July has been missing her warmth.
Grandpa Jack-Grandpa is the only one on my list that is a veteran, but he never talked about it unless Grandma prompted him to. I do remember once when he came to Veteran's Day service at our school, I saw him cry, although he wiped his eyes before he saw me and I never mentioned it. I can't think of Grandpa without remembering his wink and squeeze of my hand. It's something he's done since I was little. In the middle of any gathering, if I walked over to him, he'd grab my hand and squeeze it and turn to me with a smile and a wink. I actually learned to wink just so I could wink back. He would get so excited when we brought our dog out to see him and he always made a point to go pet and talk to our outside dog before walking into our home. He liked nuts and M&Ms and chocolate malts. When grandma would offer us food (every time we visited), he'd turn to me and say something like "She's just trying to fatten us up, isn't she?"
So that's my memories for the day. Happy Memorial Day!
No comments:
Post a Comment