R.I.P. Grandma Elva

 

Her original Scrabble game that was used by so many of her 
friends and family. Like her life, very functional with repairs
to keep everything working. Gotta love the taped corners!    

Two weeks ago we had a chance to reflect and celebrate my Grandma Elva’s life. She lived until 96 and left behind a legacy of kindness, honesty and love. It was incredible to see the influence she had on the people that attended her funeral. The strong stoic German woman that would always have home-baked delicacies for her visitors. Always a cookie jar filled with chocolate chip cookies or sugar cookies while the refrigerator would always seem to have a slice of apple, blueberry or minced meat pie. Her infamous quote was that there was always a little room for dessert.

A Halloween tradition of 14 years seeing Great Grandma.
We wouldn't miss it!

She was the perfect grandma. Always made our sporting events, shopped in person for our presents and left the scolding to our parents. She would worm her own hook and scale all the fish. Made us take a break in between mowing her front and back lawn with an orange or grape Crush soda. She had a way of slowing down life to enjoy the simple things. The birds singing, the taste of a freshly baked cookie or just the heavenly breeze.

I had the chance to become quite close with her when I moved two blocks away directly out of college. Being single and poor, it was amazing how many times I would happen to stop by her house around dinner time. It was almost expected as neither of us enjoyed eating alone. These dinner conversations were always interesting and ended with a game of scrabble… yesterday’s “word with friends”. Through these conversations I was able to loosen my stance and opinions regarding trends, people and politics.  If a lady in her 80’s wasn’t judging it, why should I.  She taught me that it was our job to do the best that we can do with our talents and gifts and leave the judging to God.

My brother and my cousins honored to be pallbearers. 

She always loved us, but did not like us at times. We were dumb because we were young. She disliked when we dated or spent money unwisely. She would reward us when writing her a letter from college. She would write a letter back and add a little money to help you with your studies. Sometimes I needed to write every week. To my amazement, she saved every single letter that we wrote her and then gave them back to us later in life. How special that was.

There are so many stories and memories regarding grandma. Too many to try to fit into a blog. In closing I wanted to say how special her funeral was. I was honored to have shared a few words at the service. Each of my 3 girls wore one of her scarfs in her memory and I cried tears into Grandpa George’s handkerchief that she gave to me when he died in 1988.

My last official Selfie with my loving Grandma Elva. She
would've loved the hat we brought her. Naughty & Nice.

Because I always thought that she gave me an advantage for being in my life, I returned the favor to her before they closed her casket. I held her hand and told her how much that I loved her as I gently slid the letter “S” scrabble piece under her hand. I wanted her to always have a chance to play a word in heaven.