Grandma’s Stories

May 23rd Guest Blog By Granddaughter, Alyssa

My Grandma has always been a huge inspiration in my life for as long as I can remember, and I can remember way back in the days of being a baby toddler, sitting on her lap and playing with her sapphire necklace as she read Mother Goose stories to me in such an enthusiastic, animated manor. That is when my admiration for her first began. I have always noticed her passion and spark for life.

My favorite memories of my childhood that stand out all involve my grandma. She was always there for me, for every birthday, holiday and on the weekends when I would come stay with her. I remember in grade school we would bring our favorite grandparent in for grandparent’s day and I would always be so proud to show mine off. She would play with me, again with such enthusiasm. She would teach me how to cook, sew and be creative. She would come up with all kinds of games to play and craft projects to work on together. We would play school and she would always let me play the teacher. She would be my student and we would write stories together. I always gave her a gold star on her report card. She let me believe I was teaching her, but really, she was teaching me. She taught me how to use my vast imagination to its fullest.

As I was growing up, we never grew apart or lost touch. Even when she moved out to our airport in Bowling Green and lived a hour away, we would write to each other, talk on the phone regularly and I would visit her often for a fun-filled weekend. We would enjoy the country side together and take walks up and down the runway, and talk about anything and everything. We would laugh often together. There was always lots of laughter with grandma. She taught me that humans require at least 13 good laughs per day, and I mean real, hearty ones! She also taught me to ask questions, to seek knowledge and understanding of the world around me. In addition, she always taught me to be myself and to share my knowledge and understanding with others. Why keep something so wonderful all to yourself? I am proud that her inquisitive mind has rubbed off on me.

Now grandma lives back in Saint Louis and I visit her as often as possible. Even when I’m not with grandma, she is always in the back of my mind and ALWAYS in my heart.

She has always been so strong-willed and I have never seen her cry, with the exception of when her dear friend, Russel, passed away. I remember just after he died, we were watching my sister’s play at school when she was in 3rd grade. I was in the audience sitting with grandma and the children sang a song about best friends. I looked over at my grandma and saw her beautiful face in her handkerchief, wiping her streaming tears. If there is one thing in this world I can’t stand, it’s my grandma in pain. I wish I could take all her pain away and feel it for her. Yesterday when visiting her at the hospital, she shared with me her horrifying experience in the recovery room post op. It is against hippa law to allow patients’ families to be in the recovery room with them. The doctor said it’s because the patients deserve privacy and because you may see something you don’t want to. I believe it. I never want to see my grandma in agony. As she was sharing what the experience was like with me, I felt like I was sharing a body with her at one point, as if her soul and mine were bonded and sharing her experience. I never want to see my Grandma in any kind of pain. She is a beautiful child of God and the strongest spirited lady I know. I want to be just like her.

I have learned from grandma that life is about not wasting time, working hard, imagining immensities, finding what you love and sticking with it. I’ve learned from her that the best thing you can do is practice loving-kindness and have compassion for others. It’s what keeps families together and it’s what makes the world a better place. I have the utmost love and respect for that woman, probably more than she will ever really know. May God bless her abundantly now and always!

 

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