grandma great

Growing up I had the good fortune of knowing my "grandma great" very well. I have fond memories of her sitting on the radiator in my grandparents house, coming to events that we had, and of visiting her in her apartment at "The Towers".

Now several years later I am enjoying my daughter have a similar experience. My grandma, Anna's "grandma great" is a fixture at every family event. She doesn't miss a birthday, a graduation, a family get-together, even those for my grandpa's side of the family despite the fact that he has been in heaven for a number of years. She treasures relationships with family and friends and has a memory like a steel trap! She can remember exact dates of things that happened like nobody else. (For example, I mentioned to my grandma that it was about a year ago that Anna and I came to have lunch with her at her apartment and she responded right off the bat - "Yes, well, it was June 18th"! And sure enough - click on this, and you'll see it was!)

Anna and Grandma Great relaxing in their own recliners

This week Anna and I took a trip to visit "grandma great" in her apartment at "The Towers". Believe it or not, it's the exact same apartment that her mother, my grandma great, lived in many years ago. Instead of playing with the horse figurines that great grandma Katherine had on her coffee table, Anna spent hours moving the wooden duck figurines from on top of the VCR to the couch and then back to their home again. She cuddled with teddy bears, colored in coloring books grandma had in her chest of goodies, and entertained grandma great and I with her singing, dancing, jumping and all-around silliness.


We had a wonderful lunch reminiscent of the days back on the farm, and finished the afternoon off with a cake Anna and I made to celebrate grandma great's birthday a few weeks early. It was a wonderful day.

Anna wearing the "I'm OK" sign and sitting next to the bears she cuddled all day

I have such warm memories of my grandma great and the times we spent together. Anna is so fortunate to have 6 great-grandparents living, all of whom take a special interest in her life in their own way. I have read about the importance of extended family members in shaping the lives of young children, particularly with young girls, and I am so grateful that Anna has such loving people to surround her.

I hope there will be many more visits such as this to come!