Remembering

Not about teaching Kindergarten today. But I saw this and it reminds me of my husbands grandmother. She passed away 5 years ago today. She was the definition of a classy lady. She proved that money doesn't give you class, education doesn't give you class, it's who you are on the  inside.

She was born on a farm in Central Illinois, into a family that spoke only German until the First World War. As soon as the US declared war on Germany, her family began to speak English only.

During the Depression she and her brothers would hunt squirrel in the timber for supper.

She married a carpenter who refused to let her make macaroni and cheese because that was what they fed him at the Orphanage he grew up in. They lived in a small town and had 2 daughter’s together, and he passed away about 20 years before she did.

But that is her history, it isn’t who she was. My husband refers to her as a “feisty old bird” who loved nature and animals. She created a natural habitat in her yard for the birds and squirrels. As long as she had her health, she would go out and bird watch in the country.

This farm girl was outspoken about her beliefs that crop-dusting and pesticides were ruining the environment and all our health and would tell any farmer she came across what she though.

When you became a part of her family, you stayed a part of the family. It didn’t matter. When her youngest daughter divorced, Grandma still kept contact with the ex-husband. He was one of the pall bearers at her funeral, right alongside the daughter’s current partner. When her grandson (my husbands cousin) divorced, his wife still came to help Grandma clean her house. The ex-wife’s daughter (cousin’s step-daughter) was still very much a part of the family, even though there were no blood ties.

She was feisty, a hard worker, fiercely loyal, and outspoken. Everything I aspire to be. Man, I miss her. I am so glad I knew her.