Today is Grandma Smith's birthday. If she were still alive, she'd be 94 years old. This picture was taken on her 75th birthday. For some reason, Jeanine wasn't there but it brings back memories. She was so in love with our kids and the fact that we lived close and she could see them often. I'm sure you could all list memories you have of grandma. Here's a few of mine. She always wanted to be there for Easter egg hunts, having us bring the kids to her house with their Halloween costumes on, she made Valentine mini cakes for each one, loved trips to McDonalds and loved having sleep overs at her place on Friday nights. She was NEVER intrusive with our parenting and never saw any wrong in her little grandchildren. She was a wonderful roll model of the importance of grandparents in a childs life. This is a good day to remember the influence she had on our lives.
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Oh Grandma! How we miss you! And how I wish you could see little Ella but I am confident that the two of you were up in heaven together before she came here. I loved having lunches with her once a week my senior year of high school... only one of MANY wonderful memories. Happy Birthday! (Thank you Mom for posting this)
I don't know if this is an appropriate forum to bring this story up, but one of my favorite memories of Grandma is the nice compliments and seemingly special treatment I recieved because I reminded her so much of her son (my dad). And the fact that I was named after her husband didn't hurt my cause.
The reason I bring it up is to introduce the story I'm about to tell. We are on a family trip in Oregon and Grandma Smith came along with us. We all went out for a bikeride while Grandma stayed back at the condo and at some point, Emalei and Abbie get mad at each other and Dad makes them go back to the condo where Grandma had stayed. He didn't want to put up with it. For some reason I decided to go with them. They were so mad at each other that they were trying to race away from each other and without thinking they left me behind. I was young and completely lost. I remember crying and having this nice guy come and help me find my way home. In my mind it seemed like forever, but it was probably only an hour or so at the most from the time I got lost until I made it home. When I got home I remember hearing that Grandma was quite upset with the girls and that she made them get down on their knees and pray for me to be okay and to be found. I always liked that story.
What a terrific post Janet. I thought of mother off and on as I drove to Beth's yesterday and wondered if anyone would post or email about it. Thank you. I can attest that everything you said about mother loving your children is 100% true!
Living near you, William and the children really brightened her later years. She frequently took pics of them at her house with her Polaroid and shot them off to me. I remember how proud she was when Dale and Dane were both old enough to bless and pass the sacrament or serve as ushers. She swore no other young men did anything quite as well as her grandsons or were nearly as handsome.
She adored the girls. The more often they wanted to stay overnight, the better! It didn't hurt that they came first and she had 4-5 yrs of them to herself before Dale was old enough to spend the night (followed by Dane). She was very attuned to their preferences, e.g., Abbie NEEDING to eat as soon as her feet hit the floor in the morning! Cartoons being turned on early on a Saturday. I often spoke to her on the weekends during this time period and would hear ALL about EVERY cute thing they said or did.
When you first moved to Sunnyside, it was Emalei, Emalei, Emalei. It was like Emalei was the 1st granddaughter on earth.
Thanks for the memories Janet.
Aunt Beth
(BTW, Jeanine's absence was due to the fact that she and Earl had just moved to New Cumberland, PA., a couple of weeks earlier and she wasn't up for a quick trip to Sunnyside so soon after.)
It's taken me a while to comment even though I read this post a few days ago. For some reason, I got really emotional when reading it. During her last years, she just wasn't herself and I am just grateful that when I think back on our time with her, I remember only the great things. There is nothing like being loved and adored by your grandma, and loved and adored we were. We never did any wrong in her eyes and I always felt so loved. Even in her final years, when I would go visit her, I would tell her, "It's Emalei, Grandma." And she would say, "Ohhhh...Emalei" in her kind, soft voice. I love her and miss her very much.
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