(visiting my grandparents circa 1974… gg is standing between my parents)

last year i spent valentine’s weekend in west des moines with my brother and mother celebrating and mourning gg, my grandma. we toured around my mother’s hometown driving by her high school (which has been completely rebuilt), her old house and attended gg’s service in her tiny hometown church in audubon, iowa. it was an intense, emotional weekend where i got to meet many distant family members and friends of gg’s (AND go to the cracker barrel TWICE for chicken n’ dumplins - which are pretty delicious!) and learn even more wonderful stories about a woman who was all goodness (except for the fact that she put raisins in my oatmeal when i was about six, triggering a life long disgust for brown, dried fruit - other than that, she was an AMAZING grandma to me and my children.)

(if you ever end up near a cracker barrel give the chicken n’ dumplins a try… so yummy!)

when i returned from that weekend, i was very sick and i have often wondered if i contracted covid on that trip. a few weeks later the whole world shut down as schools were closed and we all bunkered down to stay safe in the midst of the emerging pandemic. nothing has been the same since. we have all spent the last year creating new habits (masking, using ungodly amounts of hand sanitizer, washing our hands a bazillion times a day, learning to zoom, home schooling, forgoing travel, restaurants, dinner parties, hugs, etc.) and hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel. i never imagined that a full year later we would still be in the thick of corona. of course, vaccines have been created and i know actual people who have been injected (my parents!) and this is cause for great relief. hopefully the majority of americans will be vaccinated soon and we can start to establish a new normal that includes socializing without fear, full time school (as much as i love my children i am NOT meant to guide them through fractions or photosynthesis) and the ability to go somewhere more fun than the super market or walgreens.

as i reflect on the anniversary of gg’s passing i am filled with tremendous gratitude… gratitude for the woman who sprinkled my childhood with sweet, beautiful memories, gratitude that we were able to honor and mourn gg live in the traditional way with a service in her childhood church and gratitude that she did not have to live through the last year.

(gg and my grandpa on their wedding day… they were both widowed and so lucky to find each other)

(a family portrait on their wedding day… my beautiful mother is standing next to gg)

last week we received the latest issue of highlights magazine. gg must have gifted my children a lifetime subscription because they still come every month, even though she is no longer with us. while they have really outgrown the content of this magazine, my kids still cherish each issue because they are reminders of the love and kindness of our beloved gg. 

(the last couple of issues of highlights!)

(gg with my kids a few years ago)

to read more about gg click here