Grandma and Grandpa

[LauraA]

I thought it would be nice to have an area here where we can talk about our Grandparents. Or any issues you have as a grandparent. (There are few of us on here, I know.) How did your Grandparents "Walk By Faith"?

Do you have any special memories you'd like to share about your Grandma and Grandpa? What was their influence on you spiritually? Did your Grandparents teach you something that left a lasting impression? How did they influence your life? How do you want to be like them? Any funny or historical stories to tell us about?

Tell us about your Grandma and Grandpa.

Deuteronomy 4:9
Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;

[LauraA]

I'll start with my Great-Grandma Tillie, who was my mom's Grandma. She was born in Austria and came over to America on a boat when she was young. She traveled to WI in a covered wagon. I didn't know her well, and she passed away in the late 60s or early 70s. The one thing I do remember about her was that she was always smiling. I never knew her husband, my Great-Grandpa. I sure wished I'd have known as a teenager to ask her questions about her life, her parents and grandparents. It would have been such a treasure.

I have several more grandparent to talk about, but I'll do them at different times. It would be so awesome to hear about your grandparents, especially the ones who influenced you for Jesus.

[Kelly]

When it comes to my grandma (my dad's mom) I'm torn...because she seems to do everything by the book....she goes to the morning and night services on Sunday, she goes to the Wednesday night service, she goes to Bible study, and has several small groups she's involved in with the church. She is VERY strong in her faith. So I hate to say this, but sometimes she says some of the harshest things I've ever heard, especially from a woman of God! For example, if someone is overweight, she's quick to point it out and she says things like "She would be so pretty if she would just lose some weight." And when she's looking through pictures, she sits there and points out everything that's wrong with the people in them saying things like "Oh he would look so much cuter if his hair was a little shorter" She actually said that when looking at pictures of my nephew who is KNOWN for his amazing head of hair! It hurts to hear her say things like that, you know? And when my sister was younger she was in a dance class. My grandma was talking to her one day after a performance and said "So you're not thinking of doing this when you grow up right? Cause you know, dancers and famous people are bad, bad people" I couldn't believe she was saying this to her! My sister was only about 12 at the time, and here is my grandma, just crushing her dreams to the ground! I really feel that it has put a damper on our relationship. I mean we have good times together, and we can laugh every now and then, but as soon as something like that comes out of her mouth, I just don't know what to do.

[LauraA]

Oh Kelly, that would be so hard. Do you think you could mention this to her? She could be having such a tremendous part of your lives, but she probably doesn't realize that she's coming off negative and judgemental. It's so hard to be around someone who looks at the bad side of everything, especially if you are an optimist or have overcome negativity.

[Kelly]

I try to kinda drop hints now and then...like when she says "She would be so pretty if she lost some weight" I say things like "I think she's very pretty". But sometimes I feel like maybe I should be more blunt.

[Kelly]

I have such fond memories of my grandpa! Unfortunately, he died when I was only 12, but somehow, I remember him as if I'd known him for most of my life! He was the biggest goofball! He would constantly eat paper and make us laugh, and I always laughed when he wrote my name on something because he NEVER ONCE spelled it right. He always spelled it Kelley. I just thought that was the strangest, funniest thing. And any time we were in a car going somewhere, he would pretend we were in a plane taking off and he would do the whole captain bit with airplane noises and everything! When I was 11 he got stomach cancer which quickly spread throughout his body. It ruined him. He became a bitter, angry man. We weren't allowed to go see him for the last few months of his life, because he actually threatened my grandma with a knife one night, so my parents kept us away. But as he got closer to his time he got so weak, it was like he was too weak to be angry so he went back to being his sweet self again. I remember shortly after my 12th birthday, I was getting ready to go into the hospital for surgery, and they said he might go while I was in the hospital, so we all got together at their house and had a BBQ before I had to go. I was on the swing and he came over to me and started swinging me, but neither of us spoke a word for several minutes. Then he goes "I love you Kelly." I said "I love you too grandpa". He goes "Let's not say anything else." And we didn't. A few days later I went in for my surgery and the day after the surgery, we got the call. Luckily they held off the funeral long enough for me to get out of the hospital so I could be there. But I will never forget our last day together!

[xoShaniexo]

My Gramie (my mom's mom) was so amazing! She pretty much helped raise my sister and I. She called us her "miracle babies" because we were born premature, I weighed 1lb 4oz and my sister weight 1lb 9oz. Whenever she started talking to someone about us, she would pull out this picture of me that was taken a few days after I was born. One of the nurses put her hands next to me to show how small I was. She did that whenever we went somewhere with her. I can't remember a day of my childhood that wasn't spent with her. She passed away when we were 16. It hit us really hard because it was so unexpected. I still remember the last time I spoke to her, I had just quit school and she was begging me to go back. It took awhile but I finally started working towards getting my diploma, and I'm almost done! If it wasn't for her I think I would have just given up on school completely.

[LauraA]

I have such fond memories of my grandpa! Unfortunately, he died when I was only 12, but somehow, I remember him as if I'd known him for most of my life! He was the biggest goofball! He would constantly eat paper and make us laugh, and I always laughed when he wrote my name on something because he NEVER ONCE spelled it right. He always spelled it Kelley. I just thought that was the strangest, funniest thing. And any time we were in a car going somewhere, he would pretend we were in a plane taking off and he would do the whole captain bit with airplane noises and everything! When I was 11 he got stomach cancer which quickly spread throughout his body. It ruined him. He became a bitter, angry man. We weren't allowed to go see him for the last few months of his life, because he actually threatened my grandma with a knife one night, so my parents kept us away. But as he got closer to his time he got so weak, it was like he was too weak to be angry so he went back to being his sweet self again. I remember shortly after my 12th birthday, I was getting ready to go into the hospital for surgery, and they said he might go while I was in the hospital, so we all got together at their house and had a BBQ before I had to go. I was on the swing and he came over to me and started swinging me, but neither of us spoke a word for several minutes. Then he goes "I love you Kelly." I said "I love you too grandpa". He goes "Let's not say anything else." And we didn't. A few days later I went in for my surgery and the day after the surgery, we got the call. Luckily they held off the funeral long enough for me to get out of the hospital so I could be there. But I will never forget our last day together!

That made me cry, it was so beautiful. What a precious memory!

[LauraA]

My Gramie (my mom's mom) was so amazing! She pretty much helped raise my sister and I. She called us her "miracle babies" because we were born premature, I weighed 1lb 4oz and my sister weight 1lb 9oz. Whenever she started talking to someone about us, she would pull out this picture of me that was taken a few days after I was born. One of the nurses put her hands next to me to show how small I was. She did that whenever we went somewhere with her. I can't remember a day of my childhood that wasn't spent with her. She passed away when we were 16. It hit us really hard because it was so unexpected. I still remember the last time I spoke to her, I had just quit school and she was begging me to go back. It took awhile but I finally started working towards getting my diploma, and I'm almost done! If it wasn't for her I think I would have just given up on school completely.

Good for you for going back for your diploma! You won't regret that. Your grandma sounds like she was a very special lady!

[LauraA]

My Grandpa Elmer just passed away 4 years ago at the age of 93. He wasn't my "real" grandpa (blood), but he really was my real grandpa. He was always patient and kind to us.

My Grandma and Grandpa watched us every day when my mom and dad worked. Each day when Grandpa Elmer got home from work, he opened his lunch box and my sister and I were given a "treat" that he saved for us. Funny how he always had 2 extra bananas in there at the end of each day. How thoughtful. Something so simple, but it's a memory I'll never forget.

Grandpa had an exercise bike/machine in their bedroom. It had arms on it that went forward and backwards as you rode. He called "her" "Bessie". I'll never forget the special times when he lifted us up and sat us on "Bessie". He'd put "her"on low speed and kept his hands right there by us so if we slipped, he could rescue us.

As most of you know, I have "kids" who are 34, 32 and 7. Our 7 year old, Ben, still remembers his Great-Grandpa Elmer because of what a kind man he was. Just a few weeks ago, right out of the blue he said, "I miss Grandpa Elmer." It almost put me in tears. I miss him, too!

[LauraA]

My Grandma Ruth is 97 years old. She lives with my mom and dad, since my Grandpa passed away a few years ago. Grandma Ruth is always in a good mood. I've never, ever seen her crabby and have never heard her raise her voice. (I wish my grandkids could say the same of me.) She loves and accepts me for who I am and is always encouraging. Her mind is sharp and clear, her memory better than my own. (Well, that's not saying much since I have very little memory.) But really she is amazing!

[Kelly]

My Papa (mom's dad) was a HUGE family man! Afterall, he was one of 11, and he and my grandmother had 6 children of their own! And people wonder how my mom handled raising 5 of us hehe. He passed away two years ago. He had an AMAZING life though....it's hard to sum it up, so here is the obituary that my uncle (his oldest son) wrote for the paper. It does an AMAZING job of summing up the man that was my Papa :)

Lieutenant Colonel Howard “Bus” Trimble died of natural causes on Saturday, 10 June 2006, at eighty four years of age. He was surrounded by members of his family and died peacefully.

As a young man, Bus joined the Illinois National Guard. His regiment was conducting maneuvers in Louisiana during the Pearl Harbor attack. By 1944, a young Lieutenant Trimble found himself in England, preparing his platoon for the invasion of France. He remained in Europe until VE Day and during the course of service in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, was twice decorated with the Silver Star for valor in combat, in addition to awards of the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, The Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart. Bus retired from active duty in 1975, following more than 30 years of federal service. Bus enjoyed golf, music, cooking, gardening (especially roses), travel, and was an accomplished artist in both oil and watercolors. However, his greatest joy was spending time with his six children and their families. Colonel Trimble’s lasting legacies are his love of family, country, and life itself. He will be greatly missed.

We knew ahead of time that he was in his last days, so we had time to prepare. You've heard of a "wake" im sure. Well we had an "awake" for him hehe. We called it an "awake" because he was still with us, but we knew it was the last time we would all be together with him. It wasn't easy to get through. Lots of tears were shed. But it was something we all felt we needed to do. While we were there, I noticed that there was a painting right across from his bed. I was so drawn to it the whole time we were there. I kept thinking about how that was all he was able to look at for the last several days of his life. It was a painting of an ocean with a sun setting. A few days later, he was gone. Mom was getting ready to meet her siblings to divide his stuff and she asked if there was anything I wanted. I felt weird asking, but I wanted that painting. I just felt it was a nice way to keep that connection with my Papa, knowing that was the last thing he saw when he was with us. The painting now has a great spot on my wall so that it's the first thing you see when you come in the room :) The day of the funeral, I was talking to my uncle about it and he said that he saw that picture in a magazine and asked a friend of his who's an artist to paint it so that he could hang it in front of his bed. He actually requested that be what he looked at for the last days of his life! It meant even more to me after hearing that! Here's the painting:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a324/xangakelly/myroom5.jpg

I also have a picture of all his children standing around him singing him home. To this day, it still gives me chills!

[LauraA]

Kelly, that really touched my heart. Your Papa was a blessed man to have you all. And you were blessed to have him. Our God is so good!