04 May 2010

Grandma & Me

Since this week we celebrate Mother's Day, I've been thinking about how this will be the first Mother's Day since my mom has passed away. I've been pondering about the special women in my life besides my mom. The first one would have to be my maternal grandmother, Grandma Cassie. I feel blessed because not all grandchildren get to live close to their grandma. We didn't always live in the same town, but soon after my grandfather died when I was about eight years old, my grandmother moved to our town, Lancaster, California. She lived there with her older sister my "Aunt Pearl" for awhile. I loved going and spending the night with them. We would bake cookies and watch Lawrence Welk and the Doris Day Show on TV. Later, Grandma moved near the high school and I can remember walking to her apartment during lunch time and she'd have a bacon and tomato sandwich waiting for me. It was my favorite. She loved to serve. As she got older and she would think about death, I can remember telling her, "Grandma, I don't want you to ever die, I need you. Don't talk about dying." Years later when she had a stroke and had broke her hip a couple of times and really couldn't get around anymore, Grandma had one last special gift for me. It was when we had lost our infant son, Steven and I was grieving a lot. The veil was very thin with my Grandma and most of the family knew that it was getting near for her time to pass on. I can remember going to my grandmother's bedside. In our conversation, it seemed like she had been hanging on to those words from when I was younger..."I don't want you to die..." I can remember telling her how much I loved her and even with all the knowledge of knowing that my baby had gone to a safe place, I knew I would feel better knowing that this wonderful woman that I cared for so very much would be there with him...Well, within a few weeks from that time, Grandma Cassie passed away. I love that woman. She was so good to me.
"You give me a kiss,
You give me a hug,
You smile when you see me too.
I wish every child
in the whole wide world,
had a grandmother
just like you."
~Nonie Nelson Sorensen

3 comments:

  1. Thank you Beth for this sweet post about your grandma. I remember her and I always really liked her! I am having such tender feelings right now about my mom and my grandma too. I miss my mom so much! I have thought about how nice it is to know that my mom is on the other side. Now when anyone from our family passes on, it will be comforting to know that she is there to greet them and show them the ropes!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love Grandma. She was the best!

    ReplyDelete
  3. She's the best Grandma ever! I loved her sense of humor. I still remember her telling me . . . . "Adam, if you don't stop that, I'm going to slap you to sleep." I laugh every time I think of her. Grateful to have known such a GREAT woman of faith.

    ReplyDelete