Friday, April 15, 2011

Five minute Friday-On distance


Every Friday The Gypsy Mama gives a prompt and you are supposed to write about it in 5 minutes.  Only 5 minutes!  Also, no edits!  Just write.  So here goes . . .


Distance.

It always seemed so far to drive to visit my grandparents, as they lived about two hours north of us.

There was always something else pressing, another to-do on the calendar.

And then, a little over two years ago, just before Christmas, after having to move into a nursing home/rehab center with my grandfather, my grandmother passed away.

The distance is too great now to visit.

She would have been 99 years old today.

I am so very sorry I didn’t take more time to visit. She was so amazingly talented and delightfully interesting: she wrote, she crafted, she painted. As kids, we spent summers in Northern Vermont, taking turns a week at a time, just having a ball being just one or two siblings as opposed to the seven of us at home, being encouraged, treated and loved. So very loved.

I am so grateful for her inheritance of craftiness, of thrift, of sharing, of loving my family, and especially of writing.

I have no doubt that in Heaven she is still so very busy, sharing her talents with others.

Thank you Gram, love you lots, and a very happy birthday that transcends the distance from my heart to yours.

Five minutes are up.
Done.

Grampa and Gram on their 40th anniversary
But wait-I’m not really done. I know I say that to myself every week, and have to resist the mighty temptation to add and edit, but this week there is something different about that statement. I feel absolutely compelled to continue, and now that door has been opened, I humbly request your indulgence for just a few more minutes.

I did write about her here, but in honor of her birthday, I would like to share a little more about who she was and how she lived her life, and how it is all so woven into my mom, me and my two daughters.

Thrift? Gram lived through the Depression and had Scottish blood. Need I say more? I see this trait in all of us, and our youngest has recently delighted and surprised us with her ability to turn an older garment into a fresh work of wonder. Without having ever been taught how to sew. I can hear Gram chuckling over it now.

Faith? I never realized what a true servant of Christ Gram was until I attended her memorial service. She worked at walking the talk, and I just wish she could see how Keith and I are walking that same path, learning about the joy to be found in our faith.

Creativity? My mom inherited Gram's creative gene, even though she pooh-poohs her talents, and she encouraged creative pursuits in all seven of us kids. I often wonder how she kept her sanity through it all. She taught me to sew and to do so much else, for which I am eternally grateful. Thanks, Mom!

Craftiness? Gram could take most anything and make it bloom into something else. Mom once gave her a bolt of bright green wool, and Gram made ornaments (about 100 a year for her annual Christmas Cards) from it for several years in a row, crafting slippers, scarves, mittens, etc as an amusing series. Our oldest daughter took that gift of craftiness and applied it to her wedding bouquet, which she created from felt and Gram’s button collection. (Alexis' amazing pet photography and blog can be seen at her site, Alexis Hall Photo.)

Button monograms and felt flowers © Alexis Hall Photo
 Writing? Gram wrote three family histories, composed sermons when she served as a lay minister for her church, and kept family camp scrapbooks, recording memories going back about 40 years.  I have inherited her gift, and for that I am eternally grateful. After finishing a post this week titled “On being sugared off”,  I emailed the link to my mom. I noted that I thought Gram would have gotten a real charge out of how I compared us to sap of the maple tree and the process of sugaring, since she was an avid fan of real Vermont maple syrup. I said that I could hear Gram laughing over the post, and would exclaim in her inimitable way, “Oh my land!”

My land, indeed. My home, my past, present and future tied so inextricably and woven so tightly to Gram and the amazing lady she was.

11 comments:

Coloradolady said...

Kim what a great post, and I could have written it myself. I had those very thoughts after I published my post this morning. I thought about all the times I thought it was so far to go for a visit with young kids, and now, I'd travel the world and back on foot for just ONE more visit. Time slips away so fast, and I feel the same way.

Hugs to you, your grandma lives on in your and your mom. I know mine does, but I so terribly miss her each and every day and she has been gone 23 years.

Claire said...

What a marvellous post! Thank you so much for sharing about your wonderful grandmother.

Cxx

Misty said...

Beautiful... lovely tribute. I have had the same regrets with my grandmother. Too late... but i learned, and won't make that same mistake again.

Chelsea said...

This broke my heart, it makes me sad to think I didn't get to be close to Great Grammy like Leslie and Alexis, they're very lucky. I can hope someday I have the ability to give my kids a chance to be close with Nana! It will be hard all the way from Tennessee though :(

On the bright side, this was such a fantastic post, you definitely inherited Great Grammy's love of and skill at writing. Thanks for making it go beyond 5 minutes. :)

Kim said...

Thank you all for your kind words.

Ah, yes. Part of the reason I wrote this and I write in general is to help others learn from my mistakes so they don't have to thrash amongst the thorns as much as I have...

Unknown said...

I love reading things about other people's grandparents, as my dearly beloved grandmother passed away each Easter. Thank you so much for sharing this!

Cindy said...

Bittersweet and beautifully written were the thoughts that came to mind. Why is it human nature that we don't truly appreciate what we have until it's gone??? Everyone I live around in PA seems to have family around, except me :( - I am so jealous and miss the luxury of just having an impromptu visit with my family. But then again, our family was luckier than most as we did get to spend most of our 20's together!

Brian said...

I am just reading this as we rolled in from vacation a few hours ago. I am grateful I read it tonight as I would not have wanted to miss Gram's birthday. Like others that have posted here, I have regrets that life always seemed too busy for more visits. Gram and Grampa rescued us from each other every sumner (much to the relief of Mom and Dad) and those were the weeks we all longed for. Now we all long to go back and see them both, even for one more day. Thanks for the great post. It made me smile and cry.

Suzanne McClendon said...

What a beautiful post! Happy birthday to your Gram. Yesterday would have been my granny's 90th birthday. Your post about your Gram really touched my heart. It was all I could do to hold back the tears, remembering and wishing that I could have had more time with granny and my grandma, too. Many blessings to you!

Leslie said...

Very nice post Mom. I have actually thought about Great Gram often as I become aquatinted with eras past. So many of the pictures remind me of the photos we sorted through when we made the bookmarks for her memorial service. I'd love to go through them again to hear the stories, see her smiling face, and to pay more attention to her attire :) The more I learn about sewing and the past the more it makes me feel connected to you, Nana, Great Gram, and so on.
Now, since you have mentioned wishing you had spent more time with your grandmother it reminds me that I also have another grandmother who would love to see me more. She also has lots of stories and gifts to share as well as love, patience, time, and tea & cookies! This has been a nice reminder for me to go see her or at least give her a call. The time we share is precious :)
Love you!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful post! Although my gram isn't handy like this - she decided we'd have take out pizza for Christmas Eve dinner because turkey was just not working for her! - she truly is the one woman I can't get enough of and don't get to see as much as I want.

And thank you for swinging by my blog. I understand how and why more time is needed sometimes. Esp when the post is like yours.

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