I spent some time last week in southern Idaho with my grandparents. My grandmother just had surgery – she broke her femur – and was in recovery. My grandparents are quite old. My grandpa is going to be 96 this year and my grandmother is 82.
Let me tell you some of my favorite things about them.
- My Grandmother is from Belgium.
- They met while my grandfather was serving a mission.
- My grandfather wanted to serve a mission and so he saved up his money and waited for WWII to be over before he could go – now that is perseverance.
- My grandmother came to the US not speaking any English and she didn’t learn English for about 7 years.
- My grandmother became a nurse. Now that may not seem odd, but for a women with children, whose 2nd language is English to go to school later in life in order to have a career – that is amazing. Props.
- My grandma always slept on a love seat when I was growing up because she worked the swing shift at the hospital. And she always had a little silk pillow so that she didn’t mess up her hair (she gets it done every week).
- When my grandmother gets mad she sticks out her tongue at you.
- My grandfather has lost most of his hearing, but when you laugh he laughs. It is so cute!
- My grandma calls my grandpa Papee and he giggles almost every time she does it.
- My grandparents don’t gossip and when they describe people they say things like, “He’s a hard worker” or “She loves her kids.” It is a good reminder to me of making sure good things come out of my mouth. And when someone wants to get my grandparents to gossip they respond with, “Well, I don’t know about that,” pretending that they don’t know what you are talking about and so they won’t say anything.
- When my grandparents were called on a foreign mission they accepted and went. They never said that they wanted to go foreign and at the time my grandpa was 80 years old.
- Like many older people, my grandparents barely eat, but when you are eating with them they always try to get you to eat more and more and you can’t say no and so you always leave with a very full tummy.
- My grandmother always dresses up to go out to town – even if it is just to the Walmart.
- They have old wrinkled hands that have seen a lot of hard work.
They have lived extraordinary lives. My grandfather remembers taking a horse and buggy places, the great depression, and both World Wars. My grandmother lived through the Nazi invasion and occupation of her home, immigrating to a new country, and raising a family. They are amazing examples to me and I’m so grateful for every moment I get to spend time with them.
