Most of you know that my Grandma Hatcher passed away recently so I've been in a Grandma mindset for a couple months. Well, it dawned on me yesterday that today was the day we celebrated my Grandma Perry's life at her funeral service in 2000. I pulled out the journal I kept during that time and read about all of the things I felt as I said goodbye to her. She was an amazing strong woman and a wonderful matriarch to this family. Anyone who ever met her loved her immediately. She was so gracious and tender and the pride she felt for her family was very evident. In my journal I wrote about how much I learned from her about patience, humility, kindness, compassion, and contentment. I remember when Grandma came to our first apartment in Northfield, MN, and how she loved our two cats. I remember how we used to climb the tree behind her old farm house and how I needed to use the green step stool to reach the bottom branch. I remember Grandma's sugar cookies, waffles, apple sauce, and ring bologna with mac and cheese. I remember how beautiful Grandma looked in her blue dress at our wedding. I remember when Ron and I visited her in Sauk City and how she made us terrible mustard chicken...she LOVED it...and I remember her ordering mustard for her pancakes one morning when we were out for breakfast. I remember when we used to play with our cousins in the dark outside the old farm house and how Scott shouted and jumped out of the bushes at me...scaring me half to death. I remember how Grandma used to take us on her long walks and how she'd always stop to tell us about the flowers. I remember spending Christmas in AZ with her and Betty and how we actually went SWIMMING on Christmas Day. I remember playing hide-and-seek in the corn field and then fighting about who got to feed the dinner scraps to the pigs. I remember Grandma knitting all the time (and the pink sweater she made me...the softest I ever had). I remember how Grandma used to wake up early to steam her hair and set her curls for the day. I remember Grandma joining us for family vacations - 5 of us in the little Chevette...before we got the van. We did it. I will always remember driving to Black River Falls to meet Grandma where she'd give us pails of the strawberries she loved to pick. I have so many memories of Grandma Charlotte and we still miss her terribly. What a blessing she was to all of those who knew her. We just happened to be lucky enough to be part of her family.
This is the poem that was printed in the bulletin for Grandma's visitation.
I am home in heaven, dear ones;
Oh, so happy and so bright!
There is perfect joy and beauty
In this everlasting light.
All the pain and grief is over,
Every restless tossing passed;
I am now at peace forever,
Safely home in heaven at last.
There is work still waiting for you,
So you must not idly stand;
Do it now, while life remaineth
You shall rest in God's own land.
When that work is all completed,
He will gently call you Home;
Oh, the rapture of the meeting,
Oh the joy to see you come!
I pulled out the CD that Dad made with some of the Perry family photos and I'd like to share some of my favorites of Grandma here. Enjoy these snapshots. Charlotte Gibbons Perry was a beautiful woman.
Charlotte Gibbons 1922
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Charlotte & Dogs in Cable
Charlotte's College Graduation Picture - 1928
Mr. & Mrs. Mark E. Perry Sr. - July 6, 1946
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3 comments:
very nice, beth.
dad
Thank you Beth. That was very nice. A nice trip down memory lane.
Craig
Beth,
I remember all of that. Some of my favorite childhood memories are from Grandma's farm. I remember all the crazy food she wanted us to try....some of it was good-like the cottage cheese/apple sauce mixture....but some of it was just crazy-like the jalapeño pepper jelly on waffles.
I remember not wanting to go into the bomb shelter with the mice and spiders even though there was a tornado around the corner. And I remember standing over the furnace grate in the living room when we were cold. I remember digging through all the crazy stuff on the porch and thinking what a treasure I found when I came across an old rusty pocket knife buried under a pile of 30-year-old magazines.
I'm tempted from time to time to stop by the old place and ask them if I can climb the big tree in the yard. (I think it's still there).
Grandma was special. And the memories she's left us are just as special. Thanks for reminding me how important she was to all of us.
-btw, you're blog is really neat. Andria and I can't wait for our first niece (maybe nephew....but probably niece).
-Mark
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