Our beautiful Grandma Stewart passed away two weeks ago today. We reminisced and celebrated her life at her funeral last Friday. I feel like I can't adequately honor her with my meager writing ablities, but I'm going to try anyway. Here are mine and Randall's 10 favorite things about Grandma -
1. Grandma was ALWAYS smiling and frequently laughing. She would laugh uncontrollably while attempting to share a funny story. None of us would have a clue what she was saying, but we couldn't help but laugh right along with her.
2. Grandma was very frugal and smart with her money. She grew up during the depression and would always repair, reuse, and make do. I think of her every time I clean the lint out of my dryer because when I asked her why she hang dries her clothes one time, she told me that to use the dryer was a waste. Not only because of the energy it takes, but every time you clean out the lint tray you're throwing away part of your clothes! As a fellow penny-pincher myself, I really appreciated her frugality.
3. Grandma was an AMAZING cook. I'm going to get some flak for this from my family, but Grandma's rolls were THE BEST I'VE EVER HAD! My Grandma Jensen made delicious rolls as well, but for my particular tastes I prefer Grandma Stewart's chewy, slightly salty rolls over Grandma Jensen's buttery, slightly sweet ones. However, both are delicious! Some of our other favorites are her fried chicken, apple pie, and her delicious, fall to pieces HAM. This isn't really a recipe, but we also LOVED Grandma Stewart's peaches. She had lemon elberta peach trees, and in the fall she would peel and slice a whole bunch of peaches, add a little sugar, and VOILA! HEAVEN! She would never allow anyone to be hungry in her presence, and would always pass out little cupcake liners or baggies filled with a variety of Cheetos, nuts, Reese's Peanut butter cups, crackers...whatever she had on hand at the moment. They gave out cupcake liners of snacks at the funeral luncheon in memory of her, which I thought was a really cute idea. My kids loved it!
4. At the funeral all the grandkids said how much they loved having sleepovers at Grandma Stewarts house. They would ALL spend the night there together and Grandma would make them a delicious breakfast the next morning.
5. When we were first married, Randall told me that his Grandma Stewart gave the best back rubs. She would rub his back all over, then when she was done she would run her fingers up his back 3 times and say "Goodnight Sweetheart." In the past I've attempted to copy Grandma's end-of-backrub ritual for Randall, but apparently it's "just not the same." ;)
6. Another thing that Grandma and I shared along with penny-pinching, is our occassional absent-mindedness. For some reason, Grandma frequently confused Candice with Janice. I would never correct her, but most of the time she would catch herself, and say "Oh, I know your name's not Janice, sis! I don't know why I keep saying that!"
7. Grandma would always give sweet little cards and money for Birthdays and Christmas. My kids LOVED getting their cards from Grandma and their two dollar bills. Her cards ALWAYS said how special she thinks we are, how blessed she was to have us in her life, and were signed - My Eternal Love, Grandmother Stewart.
8. Grandma was a hard-core righter than right wing conservative. She was very interested in current events and politics and was not afraid to share her opinions.
9. Grandma was SO kind-hearted and selfless. She would spend hours preparing a delicious meal for everyone, and would never eat until everyone else had already dished up. Even then, she would check and make sure that no one needed anything else before she finally sat down to eat.
10. I've never met a greater example of faith than Grandma. She frequently shared her testimony of the gospel with all of us, and she truly lived a Christ-centered life.
I know it's kinda weird, but I just couldn't help snapping a picture of Lydia with her. I was a little bit surprised how difficult it was for my kids to lose Grandma. She's not been doing very well for a while now, so I guess I thought that they had gotten used to the idea...until we visited her on Easter Sunday. My four oldest kids were all in tears that night seeing how close she was to passing away. Every day after that, they kept asking if she was still breathing. I tried to explain to them that even though it's sad for us, Grandma is happy to go to heaven and return to her husband and other loved ones that have gone before her.
Lydia definitely had the hardest time at the funeral. She had a really close relationship with Grandma. Whenever Grandma was around, she would go straight over, climb up next to her, and sit there the whole time. All the other kids would eventually run off to play with their cousins, but Lydia LOVED to be with Grandma. Since we have all seen Grandma struggle these last couple of years, it was a little easier for me to cotrol my emotions at the funeral...until I looked at Lydia. She kept tearing up, then I would start crying... Eventually cute little Madilynn (who is SO much like her mother) came up and said, "Lydia! If you keep crying, then I'm going to cry, and Brecky's going to cry, and Chaz is going to cry, and Macie's going to cry, and the whole place will flood!" Of course, Lydia started laughing uncontrollably, and was a lot better for the rest of the day.
I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to get to know Grandma Stewart. She is part of the reason that Randall and I are together. I sat by her at Katelynn's baby blessing the first time that I met Randall's family. I had actually planned to break up with him that weekend, because I just couldn't see how our relationship would work with us living in different states and all. However, after I spent some time talking with his sweet Grandma, and the rest of his family, I decided to stick it out a bit longer. ;)
I don't remember if I've mentioned it on this blog before, but Grandpa Stewart was killed in an accident 62 years ago - leaving Grandma with 3 children to raise alone. He was bishop at the time, and was helping to clear some church property when a tree fell on him. I can't imagine ever going through something so difficult and not becoming bitter or hardened. Grandma knew that she would be with her sweetheart again, and thinking of their wonderful reunion has made this difficult time easier for all of us. I know that I will always remember sweet Grandmother Stewart, and I hope that I can someday be even a fraction of the mother/grandmother/great-grandmother that she was.
