Grandma Bonnie

This morning our Grandma Bonnie passed away. She is my dad's mother. I miss her already. We lived right next door to Grandma growing up, so of course I was really close to her. She was 92 years old and honestly ready to go.  She has been apart from my grandpa for almost forty years. I'm sure that they had a pretty happy reunion in heaven. Can you imagine?

But I miss her. My whole life I have waved at her house as I drove by, even if I knew she was asleep or not home. I will probably keep waving to her house for awhile. Our kids loved visiting Grandma. I'm so glad they got to know her well.  She has also told me a few times that when she dies she will say hello to Jeffrey for me, since she's obviously going to go before me. I joked back that we never can be sure about these things. I guess she was right. Do you think she kept her promise? The thought makes me smile.

I have a lot of fun memories from spending time at Grandma's house. These were some of the toys I remember playing with when I was little. And our kids have played with them at her house too. She kept them in a laundry basket and the kids knew right where to find them. The toys gave us about half an hour of chatting time before the kids were ready to go. They loved to give her hugs. Some of my favorite memories from time spent at Grandma Bonnie's when I was little:

-Playing with grandma's bowl of buttons: Threading them onto a string for a necklace, and then dumping them back in the bowl for next time. I thought there were at least a million.
-Doing puzzles.
-Playing her mini organ.
-Bowling, pool, and ping pong in her basement.
-Taking walks to see her.
-Grandma's candy bowl (of course)
-Seeing her in the crowd at all of my home ballgames.
-Hearing her whisper really loud at church.
-Laughing at stories she told about my dad when he was little. (Two favorites: Beets in the wagon, and eating peanut butter. I'll have to tell you sometime.)
-Her handwritten notes.

I could keep going but those are the first that come to mind. There are also things that I have in common with Grandma Bonnie. I didn't recognize most of them until we moved back close to her again and I got to know her as an adult. For example, we have the same kind of anxiety. It's hard to explain, but we understand each other. Loving to be at home. Wanting everything to be just in its place. I'm pretty sure Grandma's windows are still the cleanest in town! (Mine are not - but I wish they were.) Wanting things to be simple. We love to read books. My favorite color is purple and I'm pretty sure I got that from Grandma's purple bathroom. (The whole bathroom!  It's purple!) We both love Ben. She always joked about flirting with him. I loved it. That's all I can think of and it's hard to explain, but there were times that I felt like Grandma Bonnie was the only person who knew what I was trying to say. Probably because of her life experiences. Maybe genetics. We also had a lot of differences of course. Sometimes we just laughed at each other. Grandma was loved by so, so many people but I also had her all to myself. She is my Grandma Bonnie!

We took these pictures in November. Josh smiled at her the whole time. I will always remember Grandma smiling. I wish I could have said one last goodbye before she was gone. But we had a lot of great visits. The kids made special Valentines for her. Tonight we talked to the kids about how happy Grandma Bonnie must be right now. She is in a good place. It is hard for us to say goodbye, but she is not gone. We will see her again.  I am so grateful for God's great plan of happiness. I know that families can be together forever.

We may be apart for now, but not forever. I don't know how Grandma made it all those years without my grandpa, but her "forever" began again today. Just think of it! That is something to smile about, through the tears.