We Call Her Grandma

Well as a lot of you know from my last post my Grandma is not in good health. To be frank and honest she is dying. She has leukemia. It's progressing pretty fast as far as I can tell from this far away. This is when it sucks the most to not live by family. I can handle holidays and most special occasions, I can handle having babies, and fixing things that are broken in our house, I cannot however handle sickness and death well at all, really who can? I have not had many family members that I am close to die in my life. My Grandpa died when I was 9, and that was awful. It was pretty sudden and although he had been ill I don't think we really expected him to pass, he was too stubborn. My Grandpa Rains died when I was 14 or 15, he had been ill and I wasn't as close to him as I was my other Grandpa, it was sad but I don't remember missing him as much as Grandpa Mormann. I had an aunt die when I was 18 we were close but again I was in that teenage stage and she had been ill and it was more a blessing than a heartache. My brother died suddenly 5 years ago. He was only 22ish. He was young, it was sudden, but he had been making such bad choices in his life that I don't think any of us were very surprised when the police called that day.

My Grandma however is hitting me pretty hard. I haven't seen her in about 3 years and I won't get to see her again in this life. This is when the Gospel is such a blessing to me, knowing that I will see her again and knowing that she will understand even though right now she may not.

Sooooo before I make this post too much of a downer I'd like to share some, hopefully fun, facts about my Grandma:

I was born when she was 36. She was 16 when she had my mom and my mom was 20 when she had me...the math adds up people! If I was her I would have a 1 year old granddaughter right now!
She was married to my Grandpa when she was 14, had her first child when she was 15 and my mom when she was 16. Empty nesters by 36!
She grew up in Texas and was adopted.
She has a sister that still lives in Texas
When I was a kid she worked at a store called Newberry's in Norwalk, CA! I used to go there with my Grandpa when she was working and get ice cream sundaes at the soda counter. (man that makes me sound really old!)
When I stayed at their house she would let me have a cookie every morning before breakfast, and to this day I still want a cookie every morning. (when they are in the house I still have one!)
She would make me poached eggs for breakfast even though every time I asked for one she claimed that she didn't remember how to make them. I haven't had a poached egg in about 30 years and have no idea if I like them!
When they lived in Lake Isabella she worked at a tiny drug store as a clerk.
In her bathroom medicine cabinet she had probably 30-40 different colors of nail polish, it was my favorite thing in the whole house!
Once when I was little I climbed up on their bathroom counter to write a message on the steamy mirror, I slipped and knocked off a bottle of her perfume and it broke all over the floor...she didn't even get mad at me.
She had the most beautiful auburn red hair.
She loves camping and fishing. She loves Lake Isabella, I think if she could have lived there her whole life she would have.
After my Grandpa died she met an married her current husband. He is 24ish years younger than her.
After they married Grandma sold her home and went on the road with John to make a living as a long haul trucker. Yes, my grandma was a trucker! (I used to have the sweatshirt to prove it).
I was terrified the first time I drove with her in the truck. My dad is a trucker too and I just couldn't fathom the idea that a girl could drive a truck, but she could do anything.
Before they drove truck they traveled the US on a motor cycle. So my grandma was a trucker AND a biker. She had the vocabulary to prove it too!
Grandma and Grandpa used to take me swimming at the lake in the summer. I would get so cold from spending hours swimming that on the way home they would turn on the heat in their truck. It was probably 105 outside I know they must have been burning up!
All I ever had to do was mention to her that I liked something and I would have it by the next holiday/birthday. I also knew this and used it to my advantage in my younger years!
After we got married she would send me money every Christmas to buy a tree, because there was one year that we were so broke that we couldn't afford one and used a wooden decoration for a tree. She found out about this and from then on we've been able to have a nice tree because of Grandma.
She was the first person I told about our move here to Illinois. Even though I'm sure she was shocked and sad she was my rock, my person that told me to do whatever was good for my family. I know she was sad but she NEVER made me feel the least bit guilty about it. I'm sad she never got to see my house or our town that we love so much.
She loves her great grandchildren. She's never even met CH, that's kinda sad.
She loves going out to breakfast. When we lived close mom and grandma and I used to go out at least once a week. We also celebrated mother's day by going to lunch together every year, I miss that.
When we first moved here we were supporting 2 households and money was beyond tight. I needed grocery money and called Grandma to ask her for $100. That afternoon there was a $400 deposit in our bank account. It was a life saver, literally. By the time we could pay it back her husband had lost his job and she was very happy to get that little chunk back. It was perfect timing for both of us.

Those are a few of my favorite memories. There are many, many more. I have been blessed to have her in my life for as long as I have. She was my only Grandma, my dad's mom died when he was 5 so she was it, and she did it so well.