We May Not Have It All Together...But Together We Have It All: Wonderful Surprise!

Friday, December 5, 2008

Wonderful Surprise!

My Grandma and Grandpa Wright

My Grandma with my mom (the baby), and my Aunt Deone

My Grandma Wright passed away last February. At the time, I was sad to see her go, but she had been living in so much pain and sadness the last year of her life, that it was wonderful to know that she was going to a better place where she could once again feel peace and happiness.

Now...nine months later, and the holidays here, I have been missing my Grandma so much! A couple weeks ago, I drove by her house, and so badly wanted to pull in the driveway and walk in the house and have her offer me whatever goody she had there (usually gingersnap cookies!), and put my arms around her. As I approached the house, somebody else, a total stranger to me, walked out of the house that I had so many wonderful memories in. Who are they?...what are they doing in my Grandmas house? (did I mention that the house has been sold, so they had every right to be there?).

On Thanksgiving, one of the things I was asked to bring was a jello (does that say anything about my cooking abilities?!) In my family, when we say jello, we mean "Grandmas raspberry jello". So I go to find the recipe (yes, it has it's own recipe, not just the box recipe). I pull out the recipe card, and tears came to my eyes as I looked at a recipe card of my Grandmas "famous" jello, written in her own handwriting! It must have looked pretty silly to see me crying over a recipe card.

Well, today I was sorting through Christmas boxes, trying to condense. I was emptying out one of the boxes, and at the very bottom was a card. I almost just discarded it with the box, but at the last second, decided to see what the card was. To my surprise it was from my Grandma, written some earlier year (sob, sob). I know that maybe this will sound silly, but I just felt like Grandma was wishing me a Merry Christmas this year too. I carefully placed the card in our Christmas tree, where I will leave it as a reminder of the wonderful lady that I have the privilege of calling my Grandma, not that I need a reminder - I think of her about every day.

I love how this card says, "may your holiday be filled with surprises." This was a great surprise!

She would probably not love this picture, but it shows just how much we all love her. Jarin loved to go climb on her bed and just lay on her tummy. I know it probably hurt her, but she always let him, for as long as he wanted to.

7 comments:

Davis Family said...: What a moment!! She must have been a very special lady. Sorry for your sadness. Christmas is such an emotional season. I am sure she had a big smile on her face as she watched you open the card and read it. OH and those rolls look wonderful. Are you allowed to share the recipe??; December 6, 2008 at 12:03 AM
Nicky said...: I think it's not a special recipe, it's her TALENT at making them just right. mmmm.....mmmm!; December 6, 2008 at 7:59 AM
Unknown said...: She would love you found that card today I am sure!

Thanks for sharing.; December 6, 2008 at 9:08 PM
Smullin Family said...: What a sweet encounter. I believe there are angels among us..some of them we know well. :o)

My grandpa and my step-sister's baby (1yr) passed away right before Christmas, last year. This will be a hard Christmas to have those memories revived, especially for my grandma and my sister. I'm proud of my sister. She is going to take out her own endowments on the anniversary of "Hannah's Heaven Day". I hope this will bring peace to her. I think being in the temple would be the best place to be on that day. :o); December 6, 2008 at 11:21 PM
Maria said...: Jordan loves gingersnaps because of Grandma Wright; December 7, 2008 at 4:39 PM
FAMILY FAMILY FAMILY said...: You just totally freaked me out. I think we must be sisters or something. Let me explain...

I can't seem to get grandma off of my mind lately. I've been working like crazy getting all of our old pictures scanned in. They are just thrown into a big box. Yesterday, I finally worked my way to the bottem of the box, where I also found an old card from Grandma. It was so sweet and I had to read it over several times, and then I put it away so I'll never lose it.

Are we on the same wavelength or what?; December 7, 2008 at 5:15 PM
tysonandmandimoser said...: I love this.; December 10, 2008 at 12:16 PM

Kute Komments!

Jarin: "I've been waiting all day for Kamden to grow up...when will he grow up like me?"
4-2010

We were driving by a farm which was being fertilized. Jarin sniffs a big sniff and says, "Mmmm...that smells like my strawberry nose" (the strawberry nose was a yummy smelling gas mask from the dentist)!
Jarin: "Is is "fat man or bat man"?
Jarin "My heart is dirty and needs to be cleaned." Then I wash his face, and he says, "My heart is clean!" (He watched me put lipstick on once, and thought my top lips looked like hearts. Now he thinks that lips are hearts). Which makes me wonder what he thinks when he says, "The Holy Ghost makes our heart feel good."
Jarin asked with a great big smile that melts my heart, "Mom, are you being grumpy with me?" (yes, I was - but that started us both laughing instead!)
We were having a family home evening helping Emilie to prepare for baptism. We talked to her about making good choices and right vs. wrong. We were trying to prompt her to give an answer when Ira asked her, "What's opposite of right, (he asked it in the context of right choices), and she answered, "Left." (you should have seen the look Ira and I gave each other - it spoke volumes!)
Same family home evening... we were talking about the Holy Ghost. Jarin (being very tired and very sensitive at the moment anyways), started going balistic on us. Not only did he say he was scared of the Holy Ghost. And not only was he crying because he was scared, but he was SOBBING, and it continued for about an hour (which is when he fell asleep still crying)!! Then first thing out of his mouth when he woke up was that he was scared of the Holy Ghost! We think we are doing the right thing by teaching our children, but really - we have taumatized Jarin! I can only imagine what was going on in his little imagination. Did I mention that FHE finished earlier than planned?
Ira was feeling the baby move at a particularly active time. He said, "Is he moving furniture around in there?" (some days it sure feels like it!)
There was a baby being blessed in church Sunday, and Jarin saw the priesthood men in a circle, and loudly proclaims "Look mom, their playing ring around the rosies!"
Emilie asked me, "Since our eyes are blue, how come everything doesn't look blue to us?" I explained how we see through the black circle in our eyes. She said, "Then the blue is just for decoration?"
Jarin walks around the house constantly saying, and singing "I am a Child of God, and He has sent me here." And when anyones voices get too loud, he sings, "Love at home... Love at home..." I'm not sure he even knows the meaning of what he's singing, but it stops the contention and usually starts a few giggles.
Ira was talking about leap year, and Emilie asked, "What is leap year? Is it when we leap to school?"
Ira asked Emilie if you put plastic wrap or foil over a pan going in the oven. She said tinfoil. Ira said "Good thinking Emilie." She responded by saying, "No, I didn't think...my teacher told me." (thank goodness for teachers, so we don't have to think!)
Jarin asked me if he could have something, and I had told him no. He responded by asking again, then answering his own question as if he were me, "Of course you can sweetheart." (it's no wonder he gets whatever he wants - how cute is that?)
In church today, a half a second before the sacrament prayer was being said, (so it was very quiet in the room), Jarin observed that his dad was sitting on the stand, and calls out in his loudest voice, "That's my daddy up there!"
Brayden said, "I've learned to never mess with a pregnant person."
Today I told Jarin he was a sweetHEART, and he said, "No, I have a beautiful HEART, and mommy is beautiful too." (a comment like that, he can have whatever he wants!)
This one was said a year or so ago, but it was one of the best we've had ever - so it bears repeating! Emilie said to mom, "Someday I am going to marry my prince, just like you married your prince."
Jarin said, "We don't say 'monkey butt' do we?"
Jarin see's a bumble bee and says, "It's a bum-bum bee".
Emilie singing, "Loose, footloose, kick off my church shoes."

Hmmmmm...

I copied this from my sisters blog, but it's just too perfectly perfect to not be reminded of as often as possible!

Hmmmm....
There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed she had only three hairs on her head.'Well,' she said, 'I think I'll braid my hair today!'So she did, and she had a wonderful day.The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head.'H-M-M,' she said, 'I think I'll part my hair down the middle today!'So she did and she had a grand day.The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head.'Well,' she said, 'today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail.'So she did and she had a fun, fun day.The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head.'YEA!' she exclaimed, 'I don't have to fix my hair today!'Attitude is everything. Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

INSPIRATION

"A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation." Joseph Smith

"The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone. The things you do for others remain as your legacy."

"Fix it up...wear it out... make due...or do without!" - Gordon B Hinckley

"In righteousness there is great simplicity" - William R. Bradford

"The most important thing parents can do for their children is to teach them to feel The Spirit and recognize when it is no longer with them."

Elder M. Russell Ballard: "There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children...What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and, in keeping with the devotion she has for God and her husband, prioritizes them above all else."

The adversary would keep us busily engaged in a multitude of trivial things in an effort to keep us distracted from the few vital things that make all the difference."-Ardeth G. Kapp