An example

My dear, 91-year old Grandma Ruthie passed away this December. Unfortunately, as overseas circumstances dictate, I won't be able to be present at her funeral. But as my dad says, "Funerals are for the living to remember, not the dead." So remember, I will. This will be read at her funeral in my absence.

Grandma Ruthie was one of the kindest, most loving, and generous people that I have known.  Her lavish love for her family was evident in her words and actions.  She was quick to read her grandchildren stories, play a game of “cooties,” “peanuts,” or dominoes on her kitchen floor, send care-packages, write letters, send cards on Halloween or Valentine’s Day, take us shopping for a new Christmas outfit, or treat us to homemade goodies or a dove bar.

Holidays were always Grandma Ruthie’s forte. She would bake several homemade pumpkin and pecan pies for Thanksgiving and fuss over making lump-free gravy and perfectly sweetened whipped cream. When she lived in Plymouth, we would overwhelm her house with people and noise on Christmas Eve. The grandchildren would rave about “Grandma’s peas,” which were simply frozen peas coated in tons of butter, but we didn’t have them on any other occasion, so they were always “Grandma’s peas.” She baked so many treats for us, especially during Christmas. Every Christmas, each family would receive a tupperware and tin filled with goodies, which we often affectionately named after her, calling them, “Grandma’s date bars,” “Grandma’s gooey bars,” “Grandma’s caramels.” And the thing is, they really were “Grandma’s”; despite having her recipes, no one else can seem to make them like she did.

Some of my favorite memories of Grandma Ruthie include:

·      What a die-hard Minnesota Twins fan she was.

·      When she laughed at how shocked I was the day I discovered that she kept her Christmas tree up in the basement all year round.

·      How her freezer and refrigerator doors were covered in family photographs, drawings little ones had made, and her magnet collection from different trips that either she or family members had taken.

·      Family Friday night dinners at Bakers Square, where she’d always order the club sandwich and strawberry rhubarb pie alamode, and then proceed to fight my dad for the bill.

·      My last time seeing her—after several visits where she was tired or not very talkative, I was blessed to catch her on a good day where she reminisced about her childhood and other family memories.

·      How she would laugh each time a grandchild would send her a letter addressed to “Grandma Ruthie,” and she would marvel at how the postman delivered it to her house with no last name.

Grandma Ruthie was loved dearly and is missed, but will continue to be an example of loving deeply and giving generously.