Grandma Young

Okay. So, I am a very emotional eater. I got into the ice cream as soon as I decided to write this blog. Early this morning, my Grandma Young passed away. She had been very ill. Just dying really. I didn't know how painful that could be. But, for some unknown reason she was holding on. I was actually very relieved when I was given the news. So grateful that she doesn't have to suffer anymore and that she can finally be reunited with her husband and the rest of her family. (I even have a secret hope that she was reunited with the spirits still to come to our little family!) She is the last of my grandparents to pass on. How grateful I am to have the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ. To know that life doesn't end in death. To know that I will see her again.

As I put the kids to bed tonight I realized that they are sleeping on the beds we used to use for sleepovers at her house. She had this great trundle bed that us kids (and cousins) spent a lot of time on. When she was ready to move it out, I was the lucky grandchild that was around to claim it. (There are only 3 of her grandchildren still in Fallon.) Anyway, my children sleep on it now. Sarah on the low and Ben on the high. I have one other special piece of furniture. When I was pregnant with Benjamin I asked for her rocking chair. It was broken and she had put it away so it wouldn't get worse. On the bottom of the seat was a yellow sticky-note. It said "this belongs to Betsy Bake" and was dated in the mid 90's. I've rocked both of my babies in that chair and adore the picture of me rocking my sister in it when we were little.

When I was 8 and had my appendix taken out I got to stay at Grandma and Grandpa's for a week. We didn't live too close to the hospital and mom and dad were going on an anniversary trip. So, they left me there for the follow-up visit. I remember wearing her soft, white sweater to walk up to the road and get the mail each day, and just the special feeling of being there - just me. I have random memories of riding in their car and can remember the smell of it. I remember Grandma had gumdrops in her purse. She was a great one for games. As we got older we caught her cheating more. I think she really liked to win. We played Sorry, Rack-o, Skip-bo, Rummikub, and Yahtzee. Ben remembers that we took Candy land over to play with her about a year ago. I'm glad he has some memories of her - his great-grandma in the yellow house. She would have been 91 at the end of this week. We celebrated her birthday a month ago. On our birthdays she would send or give us a card. It was meant to be opened the morning of our birthday and always had a $1 bill in it. With 25 grandchildren that was what she felt she could afford. As we got older it didn't matter how much it was - we just loved that it was her thing. I kept the one from my 18th birthday and probably have a few more still in the birthday cards. She also had some neat Christmas presents. She often gave us all the same thing. We got flannel sheets and copies of old family pictures of her and grandpa as kids. On our 18th birthdays we were given a frame with coins from our birth year. She found and sorted the coins herself and framed them, too. At marriage we were given a quilt that she made. She had them all quilted before she couldn't quilt anymore. We were invited into the bedroom where she would lay them out and we would pick our quilt. Kannon and I were given 4 quilts when we got married and hers is the one we use most of the time. I love my grandma. I love that she kept a short journal and I was able to learn more about her through it. She always made me feel loved and I appreciate her work as a wife, mother and grandmother. She has truly affected my life, making me want to do better. To be worthy to see her again someday. (I hope Janet doesn't mind, but she wrote a neat little tidbit about her Grendma - I never called her that- on her blog Janet's writing)