Thank you, Grandma

Thank you, Grandma 

Grandma Stamper, it’s sad to see you go, but I’d like to thank you for being the person you were.

Thanks for teaching me that the proper way to scrub a floor is on your hands and knees with a soap bucket and rag.  I remember trying to convince you once that I could be equally effective using my feet instead, but frankly you weren’t having that.                                   

Thanks for teaching me not to waste things; even if maybe I thought we could afford to.

Thanks for signing my permission slip in the 7th grade to watch the movie the Untouchables with my class at the conclusion of a series studying Al Capone and his crime syndicate.  Mom was out of town and trying to explain to you why it was important that I watch an R-rated movie to gain the proper historical context of my studies at age 12 was certainly a challenge, but in the end, I think you just did it so I wouldn’t be embarrassed in front of the other kids.

Thanks for trucking me around to sport practices, music lessons, friend’s houses, the store to buy baseball cards and wherever else a boy thought he needed to go.

Thanks for strawberry-rhubarb pie, apple pie, cherry pie, peach pie, pumpkin pie … I think you get the point.

Thanks for always loving and supporting my parents; even when others didn’t.

Thanks for teaching me that you shouldn’t put your hands or feet on the back window of a car unless you intend to clean it right after.  According to you this was “basic common sense”, but for me I never really got it until I was about 25 years old.               

Thanks for being a Godly example to your daughters, granddaughters, and great granddaughters.

Thanks for teaching me the importance of organic produce and products.  So now when my wife comes home from the grocery store with 7-dollar organic milk and 5-dollar free range organic eggs she can say “if it was good enough for Grandma Stamper it is good enough for you”.

Thanks for all those 10-dollar bills at birthday time.   {Can’t forget that one}
                                               

Thanks for helping me learn the value of hard work; that believing in my convictions is important; that being tough doesn’t mean being mean; and that being confident in oneself is not the opposite of humility.

Thanks for all of the little things you did to show me that you cared and the tireless commitment you showed to your faith and your family.

Grandma, you were a tough cookie, but you were also quick to praise me for a job well done and it always meant more coming from you because we had to earn it.

Grandma Stamper, it’s sad to see you go, but thank you for being the person you were and caring enough to help raise us when we were young and pray for our families when we got older.  I know you are in a better place now, and say hi to Grandpa for us. 

by Henry