To Grandma; Happy Birthday!

I have been so blessed to have so many experiences and memories with my Grandma Quist. She celebrates her ninetieth birthday this month. One reason I have been able to have so many experiences with her is because of her longevity. Her influence on me has been passed down directly and through the parenting style of my Dad.

Through Grandma I have learned to “use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” So much of our world is focused on commercialism and new stuff. Not Grandma. The things in her house have been used as long as they could feasibly have been used. She does not want a new item until, and typically only when, the old one will not work at all. Through Grandma I have also learned that what means the most is not a physical item. The physical items that she cherishes have a strong sentimental meaning for her. For example the quilt that is the most valuable to Grandma was made by her mother. Her mother was a very talented quilter and made this particular quilt when she was seventy five years old. For Grandma the value is not the quilt; but that it was made by her mother for her because of her mother’s love.

Growing up I have often seen my Dad with his siblings fight for the position to do something for their mom. Helping Grandma was clearly a very important role. She is an important person to them who they all vie for the ability to serve. Little service things like mowing the grass, walking with her up the stairs, or cutting toenails are huge helps that her children all try help her with.

There are so many things that remind me of Grandma Quist and Grandma’s house. These are some of the fun memories that I have been blessed to share with her or at her house while visiting or things that just remind me of visiting Grandma.

• ·         Cracked wheat cereal – we always had this at Grandma’s house in the morning. Sometimes there was oatmeal and others corn mush. It was always warm and delicious.
• ·         Cinnamon disc cookies – these are the best cookies that Grandma makes. Probably my favorite. They are easy to make; but the dough when I make them hardly ever gets far enough to be baked.
• ·         Trampoline in the house – she had this under the twin bed and we always brought it out and jumped and jumped until it was time to let someone else have a turn. It was brought out a lot when we would visit.
• ·         Pound puppies – Tyler used to carry around some tiny black and white puppy dogs that were the size of half of your palm. He had lost one or two at Grandma’s house and, of course, Tyler was devastated. We could not find them and went home. Next time we went to Grandma’s house Tyler and Garrett got a toy out to play and inside the box were those puppies that Tyler had lost. We laughed a lot about those puppies being in that little box of toys. Especially because it was probably Tyler who put them in the box and could not remember and was so upset about it.
• ·         Feeding Grandma’s cats – Grandma always saved scraps for the cats. While we would visit we were able to take the scraps to the cats. I did that only once. At that time I tried to be especially careful to not have the food splatter or spill out of the feeding dish. The cats were hungry and knew what was coming and were ready at the dish. I got nervous or something and dumped all of the food onto one cats head. My Dad who was verbally guiding me on how to feed the cats tummy laughed for a long time.
• ·         Making cheesecake – I went with my Dad to Grandma’s house so he could help Lloyd, David and Glenden with the bathroom remodel. I wasn’t much help with the bathroom; but I helped Grandma with making lunches and similar things. During this time David had a birthday. Grandma wanted to make a cake for him. She and I made a cheesecake.  It took a long time and David was very appreciative of us making that cake for him.
• ·         Snow drifts – My family went to Grandma’s house just before Chelsea’s wedding.  It was snowy and difficult to drive through. On my drive to her house I had made a wrong turn and had to be dug out five minutes from her house. A neighbor had to plow the road so Chelsea and those going to the sealing could get to the temple. The wind had blown in the morning hours and caused the snow around Grandma’s house to pile up like sand dunes. While Grandma and Chelsea and my parents went to the temple I stayed at Grandma’s house with Tyler and Garrett. I challenged Garrett to a race around the house through the middle of these snow drifts. He accepted. We somersaulted through the snow and leaped and dived. I ended up getting myself a little stuck and Garrett had to pull me out.
• ·         Doing Dishes – My Dad often encouraged us to do the dishes while we were at Grandma’s. Most of the time it was a dreaded chore; but it helped Grandma greatly and she cooked such good food for us. When my family was visiting just before Chelsea’s wedding Garrett and I did the dishes for every meal. We had great fun doing them together. We got really good at getting the dishes cleaned. After the last meal before we were going to leave to go home Grandma was very adamant that we do not wash her dishes. My Dad meanwhile was encouraging and told us to go ahead. Grandma started gathering up her dirty dishes away from us. She started raising her voice and even stomped her foot she was so riled up. She wanted to do the dishes herself she said so she could remember us as we were driving home. Her foot stamp had us so surprised we were laughing.
• ·         The bookcase of cousins – Grandma’s house always had the cousin’s pictures. I have always thought that was so neat. It was very exciting to have a new picture that we could put in so I could replace the previous years. Embarrassingly, I think the picture that is currently there is several years old. Next to that wall were the pictures of Grandma’s children. I was always amazed at how much hair my Dad’s picture had. I could tell it was him not by the hair obviously, but the toothy grin.
• ·         The Still and Quiet Game – At one point my family was at Grandma’s the same time that Darrel’s family was. We started to play the still and quiet game. Jessica and I were getting really into it. We found some ways to lie down or hang upside down. From these positions we would be both still and quiet. Grandma got worried and banned the still and quiet game her house evermore.
• ·         I am one of the few people who have gotten to go on an airplane with Grandma. She was nervous to be away from home; but she did perfectly well on the plane. We got to check out the clouds and talk about all of the things that we were flying over. (If I remember right she has a strong opinion of Beaver, Utah.) We visited her sister Elsie together while in Mesa. The stories that came out of the woodwork while these two sisters reminisced and giggled were amazing. Apparently they did not get much sleep as they visited so late into the evening with Elsie quoting the Proclamation and singing songs to Grandma.

I am so blessed to have been able to know Grandma Quist. She is a wonderful blessing to my family and to me. I am very excited that we can celebrate her ninetieth birthday together. Happy Birthday Grandma!

-          Love Amanda