Saturday, July 22, 2006

Great Grandma Della



As most of you know my Great Grandma Della went to go get a new body in heaven a few days ago. She was 96 years old and ready to retire from this life. I can't let her go without saying a few words about her though. She was a great lady and touched so many lives. She is one that I can truely say, "I want to be like her when I grow up." Every time I talked to her and spent time with her she always left me with a smile on my face and a gift in my hand. She was always so giving and loving. GG Della spent her later years quilting and knitting and making crafts that she could give away.

















She was so generous. The day before she passed away Aunt Jennifer had called me to come over because Grandma wasn't doing well at all and she needed someone to help. As I sat by her bed with Jen and the hospice nurse, grandma was in a lot of pain and continued to be sick every 10 min. We were trying different medications to help take her pain away and make her comfortable. With all that going on she gave a quilt to the hospice nurse and one to me as well. She wanted to make sure the baby would have a quilt from her. I said I had a pink one for if it was a girl. She smiled and said I had better take a blue one just in case it was a boy. she also gave me a cat she had made. Then she wanted me to get the baby hangers she had crocheted for me awhile ago. I said I would get them later b/c I wanted to take care of her. This is just one example of who my grandma is.



Grandma was always teaching everyone around her. A couple of years ago I wanted to learn how to quilt so of course I called Grandma Della. I brought all my material over and she showed me how to sew it together quickly. A few times she accidentally sewed the wrong pieces together and then we laughed and ripped out the seems to do it again. She was always so patient and would explain it until you got it.
















Grandma Della always had a mind of her own. If she wanted to do it-then she found a way to do it. At the memorial service someone told a story about how she outwitted my grandfather (her son). Grandpa Chuck was always a little protective of Grandma. Grandpa Chuck and some friends from Russia were going to go the San Francisco and walk all over. Grandma Della wanted to go but Grandpa Chuck said no. She would get too tired out and wouldn't be able to keep up with them. Grandma said ok and waited until they had left. Then she called all her friends and they went to the fair all day and had a blast. They walked all over the park and did pretty much everything there. Another time Great Grandma Della was spending time with a family from our church. The mom and her two kids had taken Grandma to the Rincon Valley Park. The kids were playing on the wide teeter-totter. Grandma got off the bench and climbed over to the teeter-totter and climbed on. She had a fun time playing with the kids that day. A week before grandmother died a neighbor had come to the door. Grandma forgot that Aunt Jennifer and the girls had gone shopping. She left the hospice nurse in her room and went to find Jenn. She thought that maybe she was upstairs so she started climbing up the stairs. Her energy was so low that soon she was crawling. When she was half way up the stairs the hospice nurse found her and got her back to her chair. Jen had to threaten grandma with shrimp meals for a week if she ever pulled a stunt like that again. She was quite a lady and nothing ever held her back. I have lots of great memories of her and I know I will miss her so much. I am glad she has a new body and is in such a better place but there will definitely be a void at our family gatherings. We will all miss her very much.



5 comments:

Julie Danielle said...

What a sweet lady. Sounds like she lived a wonderful long life.

Megan @ SimplyThrifty said...

Okay, I've been checking the site every day for a new pregnancy picture. I want to see how you've grown in the 3 weeks since I saw you last!! :) Gotta keep up for me! :) Love you lots

Stephanie said...

I'm like Megan - I am ready for a new post. Granted I have seen you, but any new post would be good :)

jenylu said...

What a sweet tribute to Grandma -- she would have loved it! :)

Sarah Kuhner said...

Alright guys. I finally got a new post up. No more complaining. :0)