My "Grandma Edinburg," as I grew up calling her, passed away on January 7, 2010...she was 87 years old. In 2006 she suffered a fall and my aunt took her away to Waco, Texas. I thought of her often with sadness...that she was in a nursing home and not here in Edinburg where she wanted to be. For the last 4 years she kept telling my dad and us that she was better and would be coming home soon. Too bad she never saw her home again. Grandma was a Christian, so I know she is with Jesus. That makes me happy. But I am sad for my dad..he has now lost his last living parent nor did he get to pay his respects as grandma was cremated.
Today a memory of my Grandma came to mind and It made me smile. I am dedicating this post to her and the 10 12 Things I will most remember about her.
Top 12 Memories of Grandma Serda:
1. I will always remember her gorgeous hazel eyes. How I wish one of my kiddos had those eyes. Grandma always told us that she got made fun of for her eyes. Apparently, she grew up with people telling her that her eyes were the color of chicken poop! She also had the prettiest pink, plump lips. When I look at Isabel's bottom lip it reminds me of Grandma's.
2. She always remembered our birthdays. I still have many of the cards she gave me. She always remembered to send a card and always wrote a scripture and short note in her scratchy handwriting.
3. Grandma in Edinburg was Bilingual. Not sure how she learned English, but I loved that we could easily communicate with her growing up. She sometimes came up with her own unique English words and she used them like they made perfect sense. When Isabel was born, she said,"Oh look, she has enters!" Enters = entradas. Entradas is the spanish word for receding hairline. Boy did we crack up!
4. Grandma sewed my clothes, probably until I was in the 3rd or 4th grade. That's when I realized that Hawaiian print, homemade bermuda shorts were not quite in. When we were little though, the dresses were pretty and my sister and I always matched.
5. Grandma made me my baby blankie that I slept with for way too long. The blankie is now 2 long shreds and yes I still have them.
6. She always had a 2 liter RC soda in her fridge. I love RC! Wonder why?
7. She loved chocolate covered cherries. In fact when we were in Germany I specifically looked for some for her. We had planned on visiting her on our way home from Dallas. I didn't get her the chocolates because they had alcohol along with the cherries and I didn't think this would be good for her. I never did get to visit as she died the following day.
8. Grandma had the exact same furniture for as long as I remember: aqua couches in the livingroom, red sofas in the den.
9. She was freak about us washing our hands. If we spent the night she didn't let us come into the kitchen or have breakfast unless we had washed our face and hands.
10. She had long silver hair that she always wore in a bun. As little girls we were so scared of how she looked with her hair down at bedtime.
11. The only kind of sandwich meat she ever bought was bologna with peppercorns in it...yuck!
12. Grandma was fiesty!! She never bit her tongue....and always told you what she thought. We always knew not to cross her! Oh, and we dare not walk into or leave her home without first greeting her with a hug and kiss.
We will always remember and love you grandma. So happy that you knew Jesus and that you are with Him today. You finally met up with the only one who could put you in your place. I look forward to seeing you again and greeting you with a big hug and kiss.
