This time of year is always a little bitter-sweet for me. My Grandma Jensen passed away on Halloween 11 years ago, and we lost Grandpa on my Mom's Birthday (Nov 17) 3 years ago. I LOVE this time of year (despite the cold weather), but I REALLY miss my Grandparents.
I think it's pretty normal to remember our loved ones during the Holidays, but I honestly think of my Grandparents ALL THE TIME! They took in my family (8 kids!) during a very difficult time in our lives. We were so blessed to be able to live with them for 18 months and create great memories and a special bond with each of them.
Just the other day I was cooking something for the first time, and I literally started looking for my phone so that I could call Grandpa for tips on how to make it perfect. I truly can't spice anything without thinking "I wonder what Grandpa would put in this." I think of Grandpa every time I find a particularly good grocery sale, whenever I make tomatoes and cottage cheese with salt and pepper on toast (seriously delicious if you have garden tomatoes), whenever we go to the cabin or have marinated turkey, whenever I hear a man with an extremely low voice, whenever I pick a tomato out of my garden and see all the weird skin imperfections that Grandpa's garden tomatoes NEVER had... Grandpa was SUCH a tease. He used to call us the "neighbor kids" that were coming in and out and interrupting his peace. He worked for Coke for many years, and now I'm married to a Coke-a-holic. I've been very tempted to put a lime wedge in Randall's Coke when I get him one from a gas station just because that's how my Grandparents drank their diet Coke. He wouldn't appreciate the gesture (he likes his Coke "pure"), but it would be very nostalgic for me. Randall actually had Grandpa's help when he proposed to me. I came into town really late and I didn't know that Randall was already at my Grandpa's house (he hid his car down the street). Shortly after I walked through the door, Grandpa asked me to go downstairs and get something for him (a bowl?), which was pretty normal. We used to grab stuff out of his storage room all the time. When I went down to the basement there were candles and flowers everywhere, and well...you know the rest of the story. Randall does an excellent Grandpa impersonation, and has lots of love and respect for Grandpa. He learned the rules of the house very well. ALWAYS go straight in to give Grandma and Grandpa a hug when you get there, and NEVER wear your hat at the dinner table.
There are lots of automatic memory-triggers that make me think of Grandma as well- Wrigleys gum or buttermints, lavender and pink floral patterns, anyone bouncing a baby on their knee and singing (especially "Riggedy Jig"), my quilt that she made me for graduation... She always smelled nice and was beautifully dressed and ready for the day. Her hands were SO soft and she always wore Carmex or Savex. I think of her every time I scrub out the kitchen sink because when it was my "dish night" she told me that that was the best part of doing the dishes because it means you're done. Now that I'm an adult I realize that was probably her sweet way of making sure that I scrub out the sink when I was done doing the dishes! Grandma was such an educator. She had a reading contest for us kids during the summer that we lived with them where we could put a sticker on a chart after we had read for 20 minutes. I won the contest (of course) and she took me to Deseret Book to choose my prize. I love to remember her deep throaty laugh and her saying "Oh Moyle!" when he was being a grump. She had a beautiful voice, and I would do anything to hear her sing with the piano again.
Not only were they ALWAYS there for the family, but their friends and neighbors also benefited from their generosity. I remember going over to visit Grandpa one day, and he was just getting back from helping one of his neighbors fix their roof. I don't remember exactly how old he was at the time, but let's just say he was NOT young! He also always had neighbors coming over to return tools that they had borrowed from his shed because he always made them available for anyone that needed them.
Even though it kinda makes me sad, I hope that I continue to think of my Grandparents every day for the rest of my life. I hope that I can follow their example and find the sweet way to teach my kids instead of just bossing them around. I hope I can teach them the importance of hard work, charity, and service, and that I can help them know their Grandparents even if they never got to meet them. I know that if Grandpa was still here today he would tell them the same thing he told us all the time - "Remember who's you are!" My children have such great ancestors on both sides of the family, and I hope that they can appreciate how blessed they are.
On a side note, I have to give a shout out to
the most amazing woman in the world! (yeah, I said it)
Happy Birthday Mom!
You are the perfect manifestation of how amazing Grandma and Grandpa Jensen are, because they made YOU! We love you SO much, and hope you had a GREAT day!
