Grandparents

It seems I have been posting about grandparents a lot recently.  This post is about the real grandparents...my grandparents.  My Dad called earlier this week and told me that my grandma was in the hospital.  They are still not quite sure what is wrong but she seems to be hanging in there.  However, I got another call from Dad today that said Grandpa was in hospice care and not doing well.  After the initial shock of hearing that Grandpa was in hospice, a flood of memories came to me.  My grandparents truly are the greatest!  Growing up all of my friends knew my grandparents and wanted to have them as their own!  I wish I could think of a creative way to write down all the  memories but a list will have to do for now...

• My grandparents love me so much they would come to all my soccer games and swim meets growing up.  I could always count on them being there to cheer me on.  Grandpa would sometimes get in trouble with my dad for being too loud on the sidelines of the soccer game but I just soaked in all his enthusiasm.  Besides, the loud cheering voice was great for swim meets when I could actually pick out his voice while swimming my race!  Impressive!

• My grandparents love me so much that we would have sleepovers at their house all the time growing up.  They had a great house too...they lived on a farm so there was lots of room to run and play.  We would fish in the pond, play hide and seek in barn, jump on the trampoline, rummage through the chicken house, pick blackberries in the garden and eat their fresh corn.  At night we would pile on top of quilts on the floor and watch movies before drifiting off to sleep. 
• My grandparents love me so much that they always had the coolest toys around.  Most of the "toys" were not too expensive (although they did buy us a golf cart).  I'm pretty sure grandpa just collected junk from friends who were getting rid of it... but they were treasures to us grandkids.  The two person bicycle was one of my very favorites.
• My grandparents love me so much that they would do anything to spend time with me.  I must have gotten my love language of time from them!  Grandpa would take us on bike rides and sled down the hill in the snow with us.  Grandma rocked us to sleep until we were much to old to be rocked to sleep.  :-)  Grandma and Grandpa took us on special trips in their motorhome.  They would take one or couple of grandchild(ren) at a time on a trip so that we would feel extra special being away from our siblings.  After Caroline (and Kelsey) was born they made a special effort to come down to Georgia and visit.  Being in their 80's and traveling through an airport is no small feat!

• My grandparents love me so much that they taught me what it means to love and serve others.  I love going out to eat with them because it is a joy to watch them interacting with strangers.  They are always full of smiles and cheer.  Grandma is always making dinner for someone who is sick.  Just a couple of months ago I spoke with her and told her I was making dinner for the homeless ministry in our area and she said she was doing the same thing in her community the following night.  I will always remember making "bread runs" with Grandpa.  He would drive around to the different groceries in town and pick up the day old bread so that it could be given to those in need.  There was a "bread run" ministry at my church in college and I volunteered immediately because of my grandpa.  They taught me to serve!
• My grandparents love me so much that they shared the Gospel with me.  They took me to church every time we would spend the night.  I will always remember putting on my dress, grandpa telling me how I pretty I looked and driving in the great big blue cadillac down the road to the small country church.  Everyone there knew my name, even though I didn't know theirs.  I was always given lots of hugs and kisses from the strangers.  During church Grandma would give me a piece of candy and then I would fall asleep on her arm.  While I slept through many of the sermons as a child, I will never forget the feeling of God's love in that place.

I have so many wonderful memories of my grandparents!  However, it is a sweet realization for me that the reason they are so great is because of Christ in their lives.  I have talked with family members who have said that not all perceive my grandparents the same way that I do.  In years past, they may have been seen as harsh but I never saw anything but grace.  This is not to say that they are not opinionated and do not have thoughts on right/wrong.  However, I know them as love.