grandma memories...the best kinds!

i got a call 5 days ago from my mom telling me that my grandma (dad's side) had passed away. they live in michigan and i wish that i could go to the funeral, but it is on tuesday and i have a final interview with smu about getting into the master's program on monday evening. plus, i don't have the funds right now either. but i know that she would want me to get into school again.

so, here's to grandma.

grandpa and grandma anderson

my grandma anderson paid for my brother and me to go up to visit during our summers. when we lived in HONDURAS, they paid for us to come back and hang out. we have cousins our age there, so we always had a great time playing with them and going to their church camp (i loved church camp! capture the flag, snacks, swimming in the  river stream, mitch-who i had a crush on). my grandparents lived on a lake and they had a pontoon and a small speed boat for us to go water skiing. good times. grandma would always get a little nervous when we were out on the water because she's not a swimmer.

my grandma was very competitive, and i remember one visit when my parents were in town with us and we were playing boggle. being a word person, i kept winning. my grandma is very competitive, so when she finally won a round, she ran into the living room to let everyone in the other room know that she had won.

my grandma worked at kelloggs until she retired. that is where she met my grandpa (my dad's step-dad; his father died in a railroad accident), so when we were young, we got to take a tour of the plant she worked at in battle creek, and i remember we got a tony the tiger kite at the end of the tour.

grandma anderson was very generous. she always sent money on our birthdays (and there are 11 grandkids). one Christmas back in the early 80's when microwaves were a novelty, she bought one for my aunt, uncle and dad when we were all up for the holidays. you may remember that the first ones were rather large...but it was pretty special! one year she and grandpa took 3 of my cousins, my brother and me to disney world (we drove down in the van)...it was a blast! we also went to sea world and epcot center. it was amazing. whenever we went on roadtrips, my grandma made special bingo cards and whoever got a bingo would get quarters for every match-she made it fun. we always stopped at mcdonald's for coffee, and we often stopped at bob evan's for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

my grandma got all of the kids a set of silverware when they got married, but about 12 years ago, she told me to pick out a set, because she didn't know if she'd still be around by the time i ever got married. she did the same thing with my cousin dell. i think she was trying to guilt us into getting married. no dice.

grandma loved games. she would play uno, rack-o, phase 10, dominoes, pretty much any card game.

when we went up over the summers, we were usually there for the 4th of july, and we 'got' to go to red-cross swim lessons. one year i remember my cousin pointing out a floatie...i wasn't sure what she was talking about until i got a little closer and realized that someone had taken a dump in the lake. ew. we were splashing that thing as far and furiously as we could!

grandma and grandpa always went to great lengths to make it to special events-david's wedding, my college graduation, etc.

grandma was an excellent cook and baked as well.

the smell that reminds me most of grandma is doublemint gum. the cars ALWAYS smelled like her gum! which is a pleasant smell compared to what it could smell like!

grandma when abbie was a baby

thankfully grandma lived long enough to enjoy several great grandchildren. she developed alzheimers over the last few years and she was beginning to not recognize dad. she remembered david and i as kids.

grandma was a beautiful, generous, God-fearing lady, and I know she rests in peace. I also know that because Jesus rose again on EASTER, my grandma enjoys paradise!

julie