10 "How To's" from Grandma

My grandma had a heart scare again this week. She is an 86 year old breast cancer and multiple stroke survivor and can run races around most 50 year olds. Her BP shot up to 245/115 this week and chest pains followed. After a few days in ICU, she is now home and returning to her vibrant self. She is an amazing woman, who I strive to be like “when I grow up” and I love her more than words can say. In the wake of her scare, I thought a lot about time I’ve spent with her in my nearly 30 years, and here are some of the things I’ve learned from her:

How To….

1. Make lots of wonderful, delicious food. There is something magical about her kitchen – I spend time in it whenever I get the chance. Nothing ever gets burned, undercooked or comes out badly – I just watch in amazement.
2. Make paper dolls. I can recall as a little girl, we’d sit under her dining room table and cut out paper dolls and tape them to the chair and table legs. I can’t wait to do this with my daughter.
3. Make a “palette” on the floor. This word isn’t in most people’s vocabulary – but it is a task I do often with my own children.
4. Remain calm and dignified in stressful situations. I’ve never seen her break down – at least not in front of anyone. “There’s no use for that silliness,” she says.
5. Enjoy naps. She was my daycare when I was little, and she used to make naps seem like such a treat. I’ve never argued about taking naps and I still long for them as an adult.
6. Create wonderful picnics. Some of my fondest memories are under the apple tree in her backyard, sitting at the picnic table with her and my grandpa in the middle of the week. It didn’t have to be homemade fried chicken – it could be grilled cheese and carrot sticks – but being together is what mattered most.
7. Keep quiet. Not everything needs to be talked about and debated over. You can have an opinion and not share it verbally, but rather live it through your actions.
8. Make laundry smell wonderful. I used to bury myself in loads of her clean laundry on the floor – and now my children do the same.
9. Organize. Yep, my anal-retentive organization quirk comes from her. Her storage, closet, kitchen and garage methods rubbed off on me early.
10. Love the Lord. My grandparents always took me to church, even if my parents missed a week. They were good old fashioned Southern Baptist folks – and sitting with them, watching them take notes in the margins of their Bible, sing hymns and pray fervently led me to my walk with Christ.