Grammie B.

Back in September my grandma passed away.  I was so happy that Steve made it possible so I could fly up for the funeral.  It was kind of crazy leading up to it because (this sounds terrible but) it was like we were just waiting for her to die.  She went almost a week without eating or drinking and somehow kept on breathing.  She had a strong heart and it kept her hanging on.  I think it was good for my dad and his siblings because there was much bonding and healing that took place during that time. 

I flew in Saturday night and I think the funeral was Monday.  So I got to spend Sunday with my parents and Aunt Kathy and go to their Stake Conference which was kind of fun because I saw people from growing up.  I loved all the talking and looking at pictures we were able to do.  My tender mercy at the time was my morning sickness kind of went away when I was there.  I was so worried about feeling sick and especially when I was flying but it was fine the whole time.  I was also able to stay up late visiting and chatting with my sister Kira and get up early and not feel like I was going to die.  

My dad and his siblings oldest to youngest from left.  My dad is second oldest and apparently the tallest!  The funeral was good.  I loved how much I learned about my grandma and I really came to appreciate her so much more.  Lately I've been realizing how much we don't know about others.  There was so much that I had never heard about my grandma.  We had always thought of her as kind of cold and distant but she was a giving/caring lady who was dealt a really rough hand in life.  They were poor and she lost her husband at about my age and was left with 7 kids age 12-2 I think?  I can't even imagine doing that on my own.  I can hardly survive and I have a husband and no financial struggles.

My grandma was a twin and I believe these two pictures were commercials they posed in.  She is the one on the left in both pictures.

My cute dad when he was about 2 with a big fish:)

I can not get over how this picture looks a lot like my nephew Sawyer.  I love how my dad has looked  pretty much the same for his whole life.

(1960) My dad is the top boy on the right.  They were all so cute.

(1953) Here's grammie on the left with her first baby Bobbi Ann.  Look how trim and amazing she looks for just having a baby!

I believe this is before they had any kids because it is labeled 1953 and Bobbi Ann was born that year so grammie would be pregnant in this picture.

(1952) This picture is one of my favorites.  Last summer when we went to visit my grammie in the nursing home I saw this picture hanging on the wall.  I took it down and showed grammie and asked her if she knew who it was.  Her face lit up and she smiled and said, "oh yeah, that's me and Johnny".  I then said how good looking he was and she smiled even more and gave a big "oh yeah" with a laugh.  It was so cute and I loved seeing that side of her since she really was so confused most of the time and probably had no idea who we were visiting her.  I don't know if I have the story right but I thought I heard that when my mom first brought that picture to her to hang in her room she instantly recognized it and said, "we got naked after that!".

Since I never knew my grandpa I love seeing pictures of him and imagining what he would have been like as a grandpa.  Like all first children, there are way more pictures of them than the other children:)  These are all of Bobbi Ann.

(1961) My dad is the one kneeling on the ground.  Again, such cute kids- I love old pictures!

So after the funeral, Kira and I went with my mom to go visit Grammie Ruth.  Since we were only there for a short time and just 15 minutes away we decided to take advantage of visiting her.  We ended up rummaging through closets looking at old pictures and finding treasures like outfits from the 1800's (that my mom managed to borrow and I'm going to put my baby girl in when she's the rights size!!).  It was so fun to see all these relatives and imagine what their lives were like.  I really need to do some real family history.  I love old pictures and stories.

We even manged to find a few pictures of Chandler's namesake:)  At the time when we had Chandler I didn't realize there was a Chandler in our family but now I love the fact that we can pretend he was named after him.  Hello, check out that mustache!  

When it was time to go we decided to drive over to the cemetery and check out all the family graves.  I don't think I ever saw my Great Grammie Hurd's grave- she lived to be 100 and died my first year at college and I didn't make it home for her funeral.  I've always been kind of sad about that. There was also my mom's dad and sister and Great Grampa Hurd who died the year I was born I believe.  Then my mom showed us some really really old graves.  I don't remember who they were for but I'm pretty sure one was Chandler Wheeler.  There were some from the 1800's.  It was so fun not having kids to worry about or a time frame and we just did what we wanted to do.  It made me want to do a family history trip or something like that.  

Anyway, it turned out to be the most fulfilling day.  I absolutely loved my short little trip.  I went home early the next morning so Steve could get back to work.  He managed to farm the kids out for a play date on Monday and work from home between taking care of them.  I was very glad I was able to go.