Grandma was full of love. When I was very young, she used to babysit a boy named Wally. Wally loved her too, and I could tell. I remember thinking, “I hate to break this to you Wally, but she’s not really your Grandma.” I bring this up because Grandma was magnetic. Everyone loved to be near her, especially children. Her energy and light that she brought into the room with her was contagious. Her laugh and smile made all who were near her laugh and smile. Each of her 19 grandchildren knew that they were loved. She had a genuine interest in each of our lives and made it known.
Grandma was full of fun. She was the absolute best witch at Halloween. The green face, the cackle, the Reese’s peanut butter black wrapper on her teeth….I was so proud that my grandma was so much fun and bragged to all my friends.
Grandma always had Chewel’s gum (the green gum with the gel in it.) She must have had stock in the company because I never knew her not to have a pack in her purse, and she always shared. When the sad day came that they stopped making Chewel’s, she switched over to the green mint Extra, and she still shared.
One of my favorite stories that we would beg Grandma to tell over and over was “The Story of the Family with the Crooked Mouths” who couldn’t blow out their birthday cake candle. They finally took it over to the neighbor. Problem solved!
Grandma was an artist. Many of us remember sitting next to her as she drew her sketches and animations. One time she made me paper dolls with beautiful clothes that I treasured. I can still see her face as she drew and created them with me at her side.
Grandma always had good food. Breakfast was a feast with fresh cut melons, German pancakes, yogurt, 3 different juices, milk, chocolate milk, 3 different types of jam, granola, bagels, and everything else in her fridge. Her lunches and dinners were just as plentiful and just as delicious. Grandma was famous for her peach malts and created a few ice cream addicts in the family. The best was when we got to drink the malt in the white mug with the frog in the bottom!
At Easter time, she made yummy chocolate eggs for us. At Christmas she made green rice crispy wreaths with red hot berries. She made every holiday special, full of tradition. Another favorite holiday was July 4th…we’d join her and Grandpa at their ward’s breakfast and then go back to her house for fun. Not only did we have a feast, but we would play baseball, bad mitten, ping pong and football in her backyard with our uncles as grandma once again made sure everyone was having a good time. It wasn’t until I was an adult myself that I realized what great time, preparation and hard work that must have been for her, yet she did it out of her love for us.
Grandma was full of talent. I have many memories of Grandma at the piano playing her music vibrantly and at times singing along. I remember her playing for Grandpa as he sang. It was times like this that as a child through my adulthood that I thought they were magical together.
Grandma could run circles around many, literally. Not many people can say that they have a Grandma that could out run them. I remember one time we were at dinner. My brother and I were in high school and debating about whose calves were more cut. Grandma heard us and quietly pulled us aside. She stood at the wall on her tippy toes and said, “Feel these.” Rock solid calves! I almost always think about her when I run.
When our family moved to Arizona, I was 16 years old. We drove to Grandma and Grandpa’s house the night before we left to say good-bye. I remember crying and holding on to her. We went out to our van, ready to drive off. She came out and climbed in the back of the van with us and filled my ears with words of encouragement, promising to visit as often as they could. She didn’t ever want anyone else to feel pain and did what she could to make it better.
Grandma was full of energy and life. She was very active in her grandchildren’s lives. She was the kind of grandma who got down on the floor to play. She talked to us; she listened to us; she shared her amazing sense of humor with us, which often lead to nonstop laughter; she shared her testimony of Jesus Christ and her love of His Gospel with us. She was everything that we could ever hope for and want in a grandmother. I will forever be grateful for the influence she had upon my life. She was a woman of inner strength, and one that I will always look up to. 
My Family at Geraldine Ramsey Carter's Funeral
(Jenny, Bryan, Jeff, Dad, Mom & Me)
7 comments:
Hey Leslie! I found your blog! Great name, by the way! What is that saying about great minds thinking alike?
Lainie
What a great tribute to your grandma! I'm sure that would have been difficult to speak at a funeral. Hope you are all doing well!
i loved this post. what a wonderful woman and a nice way to remember her on memorial day! i love the idea of her playing on the ground with all of you! that was so cute!
this weekend was nice, huh!
p.s. what are german pancakes?
What a beautiful tribute to your grandma. Although it sounded good at Mama's Cafe, I'm sure it would have sounded even better at the funeral--I wish I could have made it.
Leslie,
That was so beautiful! You should have said to grab a tissue instead of lemonade!
Cat's out of the bag time....I admit it: I suggested that you be the grandchild to speak. I may not win the prize for the most forthright person in history, but I should get something for making the best suggestion I could possibly have made. You may be my dear daughter and all, but the fact is that you are a special spirit with some special talents, and I absolutely know that my mother would have endorsed my, uh, less than complete admission of my role in the selection process.
Oh well, you can't win them all....
....oh, and a special thank you for using this picture...that makes me look like the oldest person in history to have a permanent seat assignment on the Short Bus to school. A less-than-sincere thanks for harpooning whatever shred of a positive image I might have earned in the blogosphere!
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