Grandparent's

I enjoyed Mother's Day yesterday with my children, their spouses and the grandchildren. I'm so blessed to have them all close by. I missed having my Mom here yesterday. I miss her presence, her love for God, life and family, her creative ways of doing normal things. She loved her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and even though she's only be gone 2-1/2 years, I wish she could see the kids.....how they've changed and grown. There's so many of her positive influences that I hope I can carry on.

Today, I'm thinking about my maternal grandparents. They were both born in Austria, Hungary (1882 and 1886), came to America in 1904 and 1906 and were married in Bay City, Michigan on January 8, 1911. They moved to Akron, Ohio where they had eight children. They later moved out west to Long Beach, California. I never knew my grandfather - he died before I was born. His citizenship papers arrived in the mail the day he died. I remember my grandmother, but I only saw her 2 or 3 times. All I know about them is what my Mom passed down to me verbally and in a pamphlet she wrote about her family, which I'm very thankful for that much information. That reminds me.....I need to have good information to pass on to my grandchildren.

I wish I had known them. My parents never packed me up and sent me to spend a week at their house during the summers, I never wrote them a letter, they never read me a book or told me stories (which my Grandfather was famous for). Today I feel a little cheated and I feel they were a little cheated too because they never knew me.

My Grandmother was a terrific cook. She loved to knit and she did make me several sweaters. She also had a beautiful voice and loved to sing. In a shadow box on my piano, I have her old church hymnal that's very worn and used and a picture of her and I at a picnic in California. I'll cherish that always!

I hope my grandchildren will have good memories of me. Memories of doing things together, laughing together, playing together, doing crazy, fun stuff that they wouldn't do at their parents house, memories of having my full attention, memories of unconditional love. Memories that won't fit into a shadow box......