Friday Fun Day: Remembering Your Heritage




Grandma & Grandpa with my dad

11-11-11.  One hundred years ago today, my grandma was born, right around 11 o'clock, I've always been told.  It was always so fun to have such a neat birthday in our family.  Even more fun is taking the time to remember her.
She was a dark-haired German woman whose grandparents had emigrated from Germany.  Strong-willed doesn't even began to describe her.  I remember my dad and her fighting over who would pay the bill at a restaurant - getting the waitress involved, unwillingly - and trying to sneak over to the cashier without the other noticing. 


Grandma & Grandpa Stearns

She became a widow much earlier than anyone expected at the age of 64.  This was a year before I was born, so I never got to see her relationship with my Grandpa.  (I would have loved that.)  What happened as a result of my grandpa's death was a determination to make things ok. (She probably had the determination before, but I think it really sprang into action as a result of her circumstances.)  At the young age of 65, she taught herself how to drive.  From the stories of my dad and his siblings, this was pretty hilarious.  She thankfully practiced out on her ranch, doing donuts in the field and sending gravel flying peeling out on the dirt roads. 
She also took a fledgling ranch that was barely surviving and turned it around.  When she died at the age of 92, she was able to leave an inheritance to her children, even after spending time in a nice nursing home.  She wasn't a miser though, and each Christmas, bought everyone in the family Christmas gifts.  The long-standing family joke is Grandma's statement every time one of her gifts she had given were opened.  "If you don't like it, you can take it back."  In my family, this has become a traditional phrase, even when it's something homemade.


Grandma with her grand kids and great grand kids - 2000

When Kirk and I were missionaries with Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship, she faithfully supported us each month, never ever missing a single month.  She was so proud of all of her grand kids.  She loved to see the godly heritage that had been passed down from the time her mother was given a gospel tract, to her grand kids that were continuing to minister the gospel through different places like Master's Commission, Chi Alpha, and all kinds of missions trips.
A few years before she died, my sister video taped Grandma answering a bunch of questions about growing up, Grandpa, raising our dad, etc.  What a precious keepsake that is!  This is my offering to you for Friday Fun Day.  Take some time to listen to some old family stories.  The technology of today is so amazing and makes it easier than ever.  You can "skype" with someone who lives across the country.  I encourage you to  go deeper than the normal, "How's everyone doing?" type questions and ask them some questions about their childhood.  From my experience in working with older adults (or really anyone, for that matter), they don't mind sharing their personal memories and typically will give you more information than you ever imagined.  My kids love when I tell them stories about my childhood or when my parents share things I did as a child (usually embarrassing).
When I was in college, I had an assignment to create a family history book.  Since it was for a grade, I had motivation to get pictures and stories from my parents that I had never heard.  It's so easy to be egocentric, and completely focused on today and the future, but forgetting our heritage and letting it slip away with the generations costs us more than we could realize. (Pictures are from my cousin, Neil Skea's Facebook Page)