My Grandmother
I feel honored today to be able to share with you a few chosen memories of my life with a wonderful lady. This woman has done much for me and has influenced me in such a way that I will never be able to repay her. She has taught me and shown me things that will forever be a part of who I am and if I am ever considered someone great or special by another, I will give much credit to her. She has shown me that with unconditional love, anything and everything is possible in this world. This special woman is my Grandma.
Growing up, I had the opportunity of living with my Grandma. This provided me with many chances to get to know her and to learn from her. My earliest memory of her is making pancakes every Saturday morning. She would wake me up early and FORCE me to make them from scratch. It did not matter how much I complained or the countless exscuses I could and did come up with. I had to make those pancakes! No matter of reasoning convinced her that a mix was just as good. While I hated it at the time, as I grew older and had to live on my own, pancakes has become a staple of my culinary abilities!
Another early memory is of bedtime. Every night, without fail, before I would go to bed, I would go into my grandmother’s bedroom and we would play games. The favorite was Sorry. We loved that game. Both of us were competitive and loved to win, which she mostly did. Sometimes we would get so involved that when we had to say sorry, we would shout it out. Many times, my mom would come in and tell us to be quiet because we would get so rowdy and disturb the whole house. Just the other day, I found an old yahtzee game in the bottom of her drawer. I opened it and on the scorecard was both of our names. I checked the score, and of course, Grandma won. Those were fun times, and it showed a young granddaughter that grandmas could be fun.
Often times, as the young one in the house, my job was to find things that my grandmother has misplaced. The most frequent thing was her hearing aides. After I had moved away, she would call me in a frantic asking me to come over and help her find them. Another common one was her glasses. One night she kept looking and looking and could not find them. After becoming frustrated she sat down and to her amazement realized that her glasses had been on her head the whole time! We all got a good laugh out of that one.
My grandmother and I shared many similar interests. It has been fun the last year, being able to spend so much time with her. We had opportunities to talk and I really came to know my grandma. I realized that we both LOVE Dr. Pepper. Everything tastes better with one was our motto. Many times I would go visit her and ask her if she would like to go to town and get one. She would always say, I probably shouldn’t, but once I pointed out that one wouldn’t kill her or add an extra pound she would quickly consent and we would be off! If we were both in a daring mood, we would grab a burger. Smith Brothers was the only place in town that had a burger with meat on it that she would eat with a smile on her face. Grandma also had an innate love for ice cream. I cannot count the times that I had to make her an ice cream cone or take her to town to get one. One day while staying with her, she had several within an hour or two, sorry Maxine, I promised I would never tell!! She loved to eat ice cream and no matter how full she was there was always room for this!
Grandma Layton had a gift for making those around her feel loved. She was never quite comfortable until all those around her were. If she felt someone was distressed in any way, she was quick to help them in any way she could. Grandma taught me the value of service. Growing up, there were many times that I would accompany her to peoples’ houses and we would give them dinner or clean their house for them. Often times she would ask me to help her make the meals or to make a batch of cookies for the neighbor. When we would visit she would have such a big smile on her face and was so good at making them feel loved and letting them know that she cared.
Education has always been extremely important to Grandma. She was a school teacher and instilled in me as a child, that learning is important. I always would find my grandmother reading. Whether it was a letter, book, newspaper, or her scriptures, she was always reading and learning. Every time I would go and visit her the first thing she would ask me was how school was and to remind me that it was important that I get my education. She always made sure that I had the means to go to school. She sacrificed many of her own needs and wants to enable me to be able to attend school. She relished in the academic achievements I achieved and got more excited about the A’s on my report card than I did! Seeing my grandmother’s passion for teaching played a huge role in me deciding to go into education and discovering my own passion for it. I will be forever grateful for that.
While I have many memories of my grandma there has always been one thing that has stood out. That is her love for me. It has never wavered only grown stronger as time moves on. Each time I would go to visit her, I would walk in and give her and hug and a kiss. She would always look me in the eye and tell me how much she loved me. She always made sure I knew that. Many times while sitting with her, she would say, “My beautiful granddaughter….and tell me how proud she was of me.” It never got old!! Maxine would often tell me that if I ever needed a compliment or to feel good about myself to come visit Grandma! It was true, and often when life got hard and overwhelming, I would go to her and she would make everything okay or at least bearable. Now that she is no longer here in the physical sense, I will have to remember the times we had together and to give the love that she gave me to those around me. That is the greatest thing she showed me. I will forever be in awe of her and she will always hold a special place in my heart.
Grandma had a poem hanging on her wall given to her by one of her grandchildren. After reading it, it sums up perfectly what she means to me. Its entitled,
Grandmother, Your Love Means So Much
Grandmother, your love does so much
To touch the hearts of all your loved ones.
You’re such a warm, loving person…
Someone who really cares about your family…
Someone who makes the happiness of others
Your happiness, too.
Your love means so much to me
You do so much to add meaning and joy
To the special times we share.
You have that certain quality
For making people feel good about themselves,
Sometimes by saying the right things
Or sometimes just by listening.
You’re a beautiful example for a grandchild to follow.
Your wonderful sense of humor does so much to lighten up
A not-so-wonderful day.
Just knowing that you’re always there,
Ready to help if you can,
Makes any problems seem easier to cope with.
You are a gently person
Who shares your wisdom and goodness.
You think of so many nice ways
To praise and encourage…
To show how much you care.
Grandmother, thank you for everything you’ve done
And, for all you do,
You’ll always mean so much.
