Conversations with my Grandma

My grandma holding Ava

     Yesterday I had the most amazing conversation with my great-grandma. We didn't really talk about anything special, but somehow she manages to make even the ordinary things special. After I was done talking to her, I realized just how blessed I am to be almost 28 years old and still have a great-grandma alive. Not only is she alive, but she's able to talk to me and ask me questions about Ava and Halle and Nate.

     We often exchange cards, and I sent her some Valentine's Day cards from the girls. Since she is going blind, she no longer writes, so she called me. She called during nap time, so my phone was on silent, but when I saw I had missed her call, I immediately called her back. She picked up the phone and said, "Where have you been the past hour?" I had to laugh because she is still quite witty. She asked me how we were liking Oregon and asked details about Nathan's job, and how big the girls are. She was quite curious as to how big our ward was and how far we had to drive to church. She asked about my apartment and if I had enough appliances. We talked about cooking (she explained to me how she poaches an egg. She learned it a few years ago from watching a cooking show on TV), and we talked about how we like to eat our cucumbers. 

     When I was little, Grandma and her husband would drive to Salt Lake and they would be camp hosts all summer long. We would go and stay in their camp trailer, and I remember the foods she would make. She would make salad with little shrimp in it, and she would also make some yummy creamed peas. But what I remember most (and I've actually been craving them lately) was how she would make cucumbers in vinegar. I have tried several times to do it just the way she did, but could never get it right. I asked her for the recipe, and she told me she just throws a few things in. She told me it's important to slice the cucumbers thinly, add apple cider vinegar (not the distilled stuff) and put enough sugar in it to sweeten it. She also told me that one of her favorite snacks is a sliced up cucumber with just a little salt in it.

     She was able to talk to Ava, and as she did, I got teary eyed. I was able to watch my little girl talk to her great, great-grandma. Not many people can say that. I love that Ava asks about her and that she knows who her great, great-grandma is. 

     My grandma asked if I still played the violin, and I told her I had actually just auditioned for an orchestra and made it in as one of the violinists. She told me, "You know that you are still going to play for me at my funeral. Of course I won't be there in person, but I'll be there in Spirit. Did you know that Vance's (her current husband) daughter made a beautiful white dress for my doll? When I die, I want that doll to go in the casket with me so that I don't have to spend the night alone in the mortuary. Of course I don't want to be buried with the doll, I just don't want to be alone that night." She loves dolls and collects them, and so it would only be fitting that her most prized doll would spend the night with her. My grandma also hates to be alone, so her doll would make the perfect companion.

     As she talked about her funeral, I couldn't hold back the tears. I don't ever want to think of having to play at her funeral. I know that it's part of life, and I should be expecting it, but there will be a hole in my heart the day she leaves this earth.
     I cherish every word from her. For years, I have saved every card she has sent me, never knowing if it's going to be her last. I have made the trek up to Idaho as many times as I possibly could, just to spend a few hours with her.
     This is why I'm so grateful for the gospel. I know that her death isn't the end, and that I will see her again. I am so grateful for eternal families, and that I am sealed to her. I can't think of anything more wonderful than to know that the relationships I have and cherish on this earth will continue on into the next.