For Mother's Day, I thought I'd do a little tribute to my grandma who is my biggest hero. She is not your ordinary grannie who is retired just living it up in a retirement community and playing bingo. Not my grandma!! She volunteers two days a week in the Ogden temple. Her current church calling is temple prep classes which she seems so nervous about but I know she does an excellent job! She always has family gatherings at her home and is always concerned about her family. She has taken care of her disabled sister in her own home for over 20 years (her sister is deaf and has cerebral palsy). It has been more of a challenge in these last few years as her sister's health is starting to fail. My grandma takes her to several doctor appointments and has to assist her with many things. Lately her sister won't eat and I know this is hard for my grandma.
My grandma grew up as one of the oldest of eight during the great depression. Need I say more about that one? Some of the stories that come to mind are her siblings all being quarantined as they had no vaccinations. Her brother got polio and as a result he became very disabled and died as a young adult. This makes me grateful for the vaccines we have. I know they are not perfect but I think we forget why they are around in the first place sometimes.
When my grandma was first married to my grandpa he became very sick. He had Rheumatic fever as a child and it damaged the mitral valve in his heart. He was one of the first people in Ogden Utah to have heart surgery to repair this. It was very risky and he was given little chance to survive. I could write a whole other post about this one as my grandma and I have talked about heart surgery a lot the last few years we have had Kate. He survived and did well with his heart but then was soon diagnosed with testicular cancer and they went through many trials with that as well. He had many health issues until he died at age 42 of pancreatic cancer. My grandma really held down the fort. She raised my mom and my aunt and took on a full time job. She was the breadwinner. At the same time her husband was terminally ill her own mother's health failed and she took care of her husband, her mother, her brother with polio, and her sister with cerebral palsy. Can you see why she is my hero?
A few years back KC came home from work and told me that he was talking to a guy at work and it turns out that he grew up by my grandma. He told KC that when his mom had cancer my grandma was always over to help her. This totally did not surprise me. I knew right then that we were talking about the right person! My grandma has been a caregiver her entire life. It is not easy to take care of sick people and not everyone is cut out to do it. It takes so much patience and understanding and she definitely has those qualities. She leads a great example to her family and others on service. She has cared for so many in her family and community. She is such a hard worker. I only wish there were more people out there like her. She is always giving and never takes for herself. She raised my own wonderful mother. I try to follow her example. I have a long way to go!
I am very grateful to have her in my life.
My grandma grew up as one of the oldest of eight during the great depression. Need I say more about that one? Some of the stories that come to mind are her siblings all being quarantined as they had no vaccinations. Her brother got polio and as a result he became very disabled and died as a young adult. This makes me grateful for the vaccines we have. I know they are not perfect but I think we forget why they are around in the first place sometimes.
When my grandma was first married to my grandpa he became very sick. He had Rheumatic fever as a child and it damaged the mitral valve in his heart. He was one of the first people in Ogden Utah to have heart surgery to repair this. It was very risky and he was given little chance to survive. I could write a whole other post about this one as my grandma and I have talked about heart surgery a lot the last few years we have had Kate. He survived and did well with his heart but then was soon diagnosed with testicular cancer and they went through many trials with that as well. He had many health issues until he died at age 42 of pancreatic cancer. My grandma really held down the fort. She raised my mom and my aunt and took on a full time job. She was the breadwinner. At the same time her husband was terminally ill her own mother's health failed and she took care of her husband, her mother, her brother with polio, and her sister with cerebral palsy. Can you see why she is my hero?
A few years back KC came home from work and told me that he was talking to a guy at work and it turns out that he grew up by my grandma. He told KC that when his mom had cancer my grandma was always over to help her. This totally did not surprise me. I knew right then that we were talking about the right person! My grandma has been a caregiver her entire life. It is not easy to take care of sick people and not everyone is cut out to do it. It takes so much patience and understanding and she definitely has those qualities. She leads a great example to her family and others on service. She has cared for so many in her family and community. She is such a hard worker. I only wish there were more people out there like her. She is always giving and never takes for herself. She raised my own wonderful mother. I try to follow her example. I have a long way to go!
I am very grateful to have her in my life.
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