Gulf Coast Family

“The love and acceptance that he felt in that home were not romanticized – they were very real.”

Our family said good-bye to a very special member this past month when my husband’s ninety year old grandmother passed away. She was a very sweet lady who loved her six children and her fifteen grandchildren dearly. My husband has many fond memories of visiting her on the farm in rural Nebraska where she lived and worked until she was well into her seventies.

As might be expected, his memories of the farm itself are a bit romanticized. It was, after all, a very old farmhouse with a lot of “old house issues.” The red barn he remembers is actually an unpainted gray, and the white picket fence that he sees in his mind is actually just made of chicken wire. But the love and acceptance that he felt in that home were not romanticized – they were very real.

I personally will never forget the first time I met Rodney’s grandma, when I was about nineteen years old. We were staying in a hotel, and first of all, it was the first time that Grandpa had ever taken a shower – the old farmhouse just had a claw foot tub. He enjoyed it so much that he spent almost an hour in the shower before he cracked the bathroom door and asked for some soap!

Then I found out that Grandma’s children had recently put some money together and given it to her for her anniversary so that she could buy a new washing machine. She managed to find a brand new hand crank washing machine (the kind with a bucket of water and a wringer to squeeze the water out). I can positively assure you that until that day, I had no idea that anyone still made that kind of washing machine! I did find out later that it was an electric washing machine, and the bucket had an agitator to wash the clothes. But it didn’t have a spin cycle – just the wringer.

At Grandma’s memorial service, the common theme was how great she was at keeping her extended family close. Even though her children are spread out over the mid-western and eastern United States, and her grandchildren are spread out over the world, she always tried to keep everyone updated on what the others were doing by writing letters and talking regularly on the phone.

Now my own personality is a lot different than Grandma’s. I am not much of a letter writer or much of a phone conversationalist either, for that matter. But I do hope that when my children are grown, I can find my own way to accomplish what she accomplished so well – to help my own children (and hopefully grandchildren) stay in touch and connected to each other.

Until next time,

Jennifer