I usually don't like to do blog posts out of order, but I needed to honor Grandma's memory, even if I'm behind on blogging... Grandma and I always had a special connection... She always talked about how I went with her when she and Grandpa signed the paperwork on their house. They lived in that house for 50 years! She always said that she kept me when I was little and that I knew when she had a "sick head-ache"... that I would sit quietly and be so good for her when she didn't feel well. I remember sitting at her kitchen table... watching Bob Barker on the little black and white tv... eating hamburgers that she would grill on the stove. I don't remember the last time that we ate at her dining room table... It's been quite some time now... After Grandpa died, dinners shifted to Mom's house, but I will always remember how Grandpa sat at the end of the table and Grandma sat to his left.
Grandma was always frail, for as long as I could remember. Yet, she survived, outliving Grandpa and even everyone else in her high school graduating class. When she visited in October, 2011, she told me about living on the farm... and about how Grandpa wanted to get out of the farming business because it was a tough life. In high school, she was a basketball player and a spelling bee champion. After she married Grandpa, in the 1940s, they raised dogs and showed them at AKC shows. When they moved to Illinois, Grandpa sold farming equipment, and Grandma stayed home. When they moved to Warsaw, they got a paper route together with "The Paper," and Grandpa worked as a greeter at Walmart. They loved to eat out, and these odd jobs in "retirement" provided them with resources to be generous with their grandchildren and to venture around northern Indiana in search of a good buffet.
After Grandpa died, Grandma joined Mom on new adventures, traveling to South Bend to visit Britti and to Ohio to visit us. We referred to them as "the grandmas." She got to witness Britti's graduations from Athens High School and Saint Mary's as well as Chelsea's graduation from AMS. If she hadn't suffered the stroke, she would have been here to watch Chelsea graduate from high school too.
However, perhaps most of all, I will always cherish Grandma's reaction to our news about Ellie-Kate. To be honest, I worried about how Grandma would react. She hadn't always been the most receptive to racial diversity, and I didn't know what she would think. Yet, she LOVED the idea! We gave her a calendar of other children who had been adopted from China, and, while we were waiting on Ellie-Kate, she would look at that calendar, over and over again. She was completely excited about meeting her own China doll. After we locked on Ellie-Kate, she was captivated by her picture, declaring her the most beautiful baby. We prayed that Grandma would last long enough to meet Ellie-Kate.
Perhaps the biggest miracle of all is that we decided to go special needs. If we hadn't been inspired to make that decision, we never would have brought Ellie-Kate into our lives, and Grandma would not have lived long enough to meet her. Praise God that Grandma had more than three precious years with Ellie-Kate!!! They had such an amazing connection. Ellie-Kate was so gentle with Grandma, and Grandma seemed to have an ear, just for Ellie-Kate. Those two have the most amazing bond, and I will always treasure that memory most of all.
I love you, Grandma!! Christie
