Ry's third haircut...

About every six months Ry gets a haircut. This time, he was a big boy and sat on the chair all by himself. He is so scared that he usually doesn't move a muscle.

~Feb 2009

It's been a long 6 months....

In the past six months I have been to Minnesota 3 times. This is the most that I have been in the shortest amount of time. I love connecting with my family and getting to know them better. I have vowed to make more of an effort to do this! My cousin set me up on ichat and has promised to come visit us in BC!  (fingers crossed) Last week was probably the last time I will go for a few years. Now both Grandma and Grandpa are in heaven! It saddens me because this part of my childhood is now closed--the only place we went on family vacations was Minnesota, or my grandparents would come to BC.  I was asked to speak on behalf of the grandchildren at my grandma's memorial, so I decided to make it a joint effort.   Here is what I said:

Let me tell you about grandma from the grandchildren’s perspective. When Grandma got in the car wearing her Sunday best, she would hold the shoulder belt out away from herself so that it wouldn’t wrinkle her dress. She would go to the hairdresser's to get her hair permed, or set as she called it, and would wear curlers to bed with a wrap around her head like Aunt Jemima to make sure her curls would still look good in the morning. And she used an old-fashioned hairdryer to help make her perm last longer.
I remember, too, how she used to talk to me when she was brushing her dentures and how funny she talked (and looked) without them in.
I always thought grandma was so tall. It wasn't until I was a teenager and she seemed to be shrinking, that I realized I was the one growing taller and she was only five foot one.
She always used to tell me “I’m getting old, you know. Look at all the wrinkles!” She would then stretch her face so it could look smooth and young again. My mom would tell her that stretching her skin like that actually created more wrinkles, but grandma didn’t seem to care.
Grandma was famously known for falling asleep with her mouth open especially when the ten o'clock news was on television. We would be watching with her and she'd nod off. Then, she's suddenly wake up, all confused as to what was happening on the screen. We'd tell her that she had fallen asleep and she would reply, “Well, I might have just dozed off for a minute. My eyes are so heavy. I guess I should go to bed." She's smile and look at me that twinkle in her blue eyes that we all knew so well.

During the last few days, I have talked with many people both on the phone and via e-mail and I realized we all share many of the same wonderful memories of the woman we call our grandma, the woman who was talented in so many ways.

First of all, everyone I talked to mentioned her gift of hospitality.
Laura remembers staying at grandma and grandpa’s house on weekends. She would bake with grandma and polish the silver. On Sundays, grandma would always get out all the good china and glassware to make us feel special. Laura also told me about riding the bus downtown to Donalson's and that the first time she ever took a public bus, it was with grandma.

Jon remembers the little things that made grandma so great. She was always there, always happy, always helpful. He never remembers putting herself or her interests in front of anyone. He also remembers by what food she gave us: sherbet, krum kaka(sp?), jello on lettuce with dab of whip cream on top, carrot cake, and seconds and thirds!

I remember when grandma and grandpa visited us in Canada. We just finished up dinner when she poked grandpa in the cheek with a fork and said, “Are you done?” He answered, “No, what’s for dessert?” This became a regular occurrence in our household, one that always made us laugh.

As many of you know, Grandma and Grandpa’s most common restaurant of choice was the Old Country Buffet. In Canada, we don’t have this restaurant, but a buffet nonetheless. One particular time I remember is when grandma calmly came back to the table with an overflowing bowl of ice cream. We looked at each other in bewilderment. She calmly said, “The ice cream machine wouldn’t stop!” We looked over and the ice cream was pouring onto the floor! Oh how we laughed!

Elizabeth's strongest memory of grandma is how "concerned she was for everyone but herself. She was always making sure everyone had something to eat”. She always made enough to feed what looked like the whole neighborhood and when you had cleaned your plate, she always asked if you wanted more. “You can eat more, can’t you?” she would say and offer you seconds and thirds.

Grandma's concern that people had enough to eat continued even when she lived in a care home. She worried if we didn't stay for dinner and if we came after dinner, she would ask, “Aren’t you hungry?" and she would add, " You should eat something.” She would always offer some of whatever food she had in her room.

Both Grandma and grandpa were very generous people.
Jennifer remembers the amount of time it must have taken to shop for Christmas and birthday gifts for all of us every year. She also remembers the table on Easter morning: it seemed like it was completely covered with candy. It probably wasn't, but the children sure weren't used to seeing that much candy all at once!”

Mycah e-mailed me saying that she remembers Grandma’s generosity. She remembers “ the sea of gifts at Christmas, and how we, as grandkids, opened our presents one by one by age. Often we received matching sweaters or at least coordinating ones." She remembers the taffy-type candy with the Christmas trees printed on them and the red squares around the outside. Mycah ate many of those candies at Christmas, but she would sometimes find them still around at Easter. Grandma made so many baked goods and always sent a tin full of treats, each layer covered with Saran Wrap, home with each family. Krumcaka and julekaka were always included!

Trisha and I both remember being so excited to receive packages at Christmas of individually wrapped toffee bars, ginger snaps and, of course, krumcaka packed in a coffee can so they wouldn’t break in the mail. We remember how grandma and grandpa never forget to call and sing Happy Birthday to us on the phone as well as sending us birthday cards in the mail.

Craig remembers birthdays, too. He remembers when grandma and grandpa brought his birthday cake over to HDMG where he worked in Eden Prairie. They decided to stay and eat some cake with all the staff in the office.
Grandma was a Godly woman who kept her promises and remained committed to her marriage and family.

Some afternoons, Grandma and Grandpa would look after Zachary and Jordan, although we’re not sure actually who was watching whom! Cindy was at work and so they babysat in their apartment and let the boys ride the exercise bike they kept in their bedroom. Zachary learned how to spell C-A-T when he was only five years old, while at grandma's!

Both Jordan and Zachary remember the time when they when to visit grandma and grandpa and their mom asked Grandpa, “Who’s this lady next to you?”
He replied, “She’s the maid. She takes care of me!”
Grandma answered, “You do remember who I am, don’t you?” Grandma then proceeded to raise her arm holding a plastic fork, pointed it at him and said, “It’s to divorce court with you…, no I’m Just kidding."

When grandma visited them at their house, Jordan remembers how she would give him a quarter and say, “Save this, put this in your piggy bank”.

One visit a few months ago, Jordan went with his family to visit grandma when grandpa was sick. Grandma said to him, “You’re a fine looking young man. Are you adopted? Who do you live with?”
Jordan answered, “My parents.”
Grandma cheerfully replied, “Welcome to the family!”

I will always remember the twinkle in grandma's eyes when she met Brayden for the first time. Her face lit up but she said very seriously, “What’s this little girl’s name? She’s so cute!” I proceeded to tell her that it was a boy, but she would have nothing to do with it. After all, he had long hair. She proceeded to ask us to take off his diaper, so she could confirm the fact that he wasn’t a girl!

Jon also remembers how she gave him a love for Jesus. One of his earliest memories is of how she would sit the grandkids down in the kitchen to listen to KTIS and the children’s bible hour. When he thinks of a person living an everyday life with Christ at the center, it’s Grandma (and Grandpa) who he thinks of.

Heather, along with the rest of us, “really appreciated Grandma's kind spirit. She never remembers grandma or grandpa having a stern or negative word with each other. Their marriage relationship was so sweet. She said she hopes to model her own marriage after their relationship and she said that if she gets the chance to be a grandmother someday, she hopes she can be as meek and gentle as grandma was with us.

I still clearly remember how grandpa spoke at my wedding when I got married almost 8 years ago. He talked of the commitment that he and grandma shared. He said that love would sometimes rise and fall, but that our commitment to our marriage would see us through the tough times when our love was being tested. He said that God would be faithful and that we could do no better than to reflect that faithfulness in our own marriage, in our love and in our commitment to each other. He quoted Romans 8.28: "All things work together for good to those who love Him, to those that are called according to his purpose.” Grandma and Grandpa truly showed that commitment to each other. They stayed committed to each other in the good times and the bad for each and every day of their 71 years together.

We will always cherish our many memories of our grandparents and value their example of true Christian hospitality, generosity and love.

Valentines

I got a cricut for Christmas and it cuts out basically any shape you want, so I decided that I would cut out Valentine's for B's class this year. He glued on the hearts and coloured the pooh bears. It was quite the ordeal as writing 19 names took him a long time on top of all of the gluing. I think they turned out pretty good!

One of my students gave me these for V-day! They are really fuzzy and cozy! How thoughtful!

~February 10, 2009