Grandmother and Granddad

Last year, my aunt offered to order a memoir she had put together about my Grandmother and Granddad for any of us grandkids. I finally got a chance to read it this month. It was only 128 pages. Short and to the point but bursting with the best memories. It was incredible. There is definitely a reason we are supposed to be invested in our family history. I LOVED learning about their life growing up, their story getting together, my Granddad's conversion to the gospel and how they raised their family. Each child had included their memories of their parents and they were all priceless. I choked up multiple times, felt the Spirit, laughed out loud and marveled at their grit and faith. This is an excerpt from my Aunt Marcia's memories.

 I couldn't believe it! Grandmother was always on her case to stand up straight too! She was always saying that to me and pulling my shoulder's back. She would say that girls slump because they want to hide their chest.. (uhhh, I'm not sure if she was blind, but there was nothing to hide! Haha!) I can't believe she enrolled her in modeling classes. That cracked me up.

I felt like there was something noteworthy on every page. I read most of it on a plane so I didn't have a highlighter, but next time I read it, I will keep one handy!

Some interesting things about their life:

*Grandmother's mother, Julia, died in child birth from placenta previa when Grandmother was 9 years old. 

*Granddad's childhood history is short but you get the idea of how rough it was by the fact that when he got rheumatic fever that damaged his heart valves, he dropped out of school because it meant he couldn't play football anymore. He worked non-stop after that, shining shoes, working at a pool hall, and plumbing. In talking to his kids he said, "I think my life began when I married your mother." 

*Right after they got married, Granddad got a job on the Manhattan Project in Tennessee, working on the atomic bomb. (No one knew that's what they were doing though.) He was a welder/steamfitter.

*They lost their 5th child, a boy, named David when she was 7 months along in her pregnancy. It was because of placenta previa.

Her grandmother, Frances Ella, also died from placenta previa, but the baby, Joseph, lived. Grandmother's mother raised this baby along with her own first born. One winter night it was very cold and the house was drafty. Julia wrapped both babies snug and warm and went to bed. During the night she had a dream. Her deceased mother spoke to her saying, "Julia, the babies are too warm." She got up and found their little faces were bright red from heat.

*Grandmother was a "tree hugger." She was always growing plants and flowers and had fresh flowers in vases around her house. 

*Granddad only had an 8th grade education but he owned and ran a car wash, tow business and oil company. He liked numbers. Because of hard work and frugality, they were well off, but they were honest and gave anything they had to anyone that needed it. 

*Granddad served as a bishop and in a stake presidency. He was well respected and loved. But he was also known for setting his tow business beeper off to get himself out of a meeting if he felt it was going unnecessarily long. ;) 

*They were party people! Everyone wrote of constant memories of them hosting church parties in their backyard and of having friends over to play cards and dominoes. Maybe that's where I get it. :)

I could go on and on. I love my memories of Grandmother and Granddad together. In their old age, they were still affectionate and would give kisses in front of us. They were also fiesty and stubborn. A couple of their children wrote of rare occasions when Grandmother lobbed a loaf of bread or block of cheese at Granddad in a fit of frustration. Ha! They had a "50's" marriage which would never jive with me, but for some reason feels stable and loving when applied to them.

My VERY favorite thing about it though was that it started with the story of Granddad's conversion to the church instead of starting with their births and childhoods. Grandmother actually seemed to discourage it because she didn't want him to do it for her. She wanted him to have a testimony of it and do it because he knew it was true and then stick to it. He took the discussions without her knowing it and then stopped smoking and drinking. (They had 4 kids at the time.) Then he decided to be baptized and told some carpenters who were working on their house, but didn't tell her! When she found out it went like this: Grandmother-"You're not being baptized next Saturday." Granddad-"I certainly am." Grandmother-"Well, I don't want any jack Mormon." (She had seen other men sneak around their wives, smoking.) Granddad: "This is none of your business." HA! I laughed out loud. Their relationship is so funny to me. But here is the part that actually makes it my favorite. The next line was this: "You may wonder why start a person's history with him joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Because becoming a member of the Church was life changing."

That was SO  powerful to me. It absolutely rang true in my heart. Of everything I read and loved, THAT is the statement that I will not forget. 

I am humbled to the dust in realizing how BLESSED I was with faithful, honest, hard working, scrappy, God fearing, family oriented grandparents.