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Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Getting to know your Great Grandma!

I had this idea the other day, to take my Great Grandma Agnes out to dinner for her birthday, and really spend time getting to know her. Honestly, how many of us can say we know that much about the early life of our grandparents? I'm lucky enough to have a Great Grandma, she's been through so much. Guys, she was born in 1930. 1930! Can you imagine the things she's seen and been through!? She was almost in tears that we took time out of our lives to take HER out, and celebrate her 84th birthday.

Meet my Great Grandma Agnes.

I asked her lots of questions, and so did Caleb, her responses to some had us cracking up, others were  more on the serious side. It was a tremendous night and I thought I'd share what I learned about her and the questions we asked her.

Whats your middle name? Lois

What did you like best about High School? Probably all the cute boys, if I'm being honest! Oh, and also English class...cause I wasn't a whizz in math at all. 

Who was President when you were born? Oh heck, I don't even know! I know Roosevelt was around there somewhere. (Caleb googled it, it was Hoover!)

What was your husband's name? Lyndel. Kayla, you do know he got to see you before he passed, right? (this almost brought tears to my eyes. I never had the privilege of really meeting my great grandpa, so this meant so much to me)

What was the first job you ever worked? I was a stay at home mom once I got married, but the only job I ever had was when I was young, at a cosmetic counter...selling all the pretty make up.

When did you find the Lord? Lemme tell ya, I was a trouble maker until I met Lyndel. His entire family were devout Christians, but heavy drinkers...some of them strayed away, but not us. I've never looked back!

When did you become a mom? I was only 20 years old when I had your grandpa Tony! I don't recommend getting married at 16 these days though like I did.

What's the craziest thing you've ever done? (she couldn't stop laughing - she said she had too many stupid stories about all the silly things she'd done we'd be there all night...and she wants me to ask her again next time we do this)

She ate her birthday treat that she made sure to save room for... and continued to talk about her random stories and we just couldn't get enough.

We talked about politics, our faith, food, the weather, our dreams and everything in between. We found out she got married at the young age of 16, talked about how she grieved over the passing of one of her son's, Mark...and how she still hang dries her clothes outside when the weather is right.

She confessed that she thinks Bill Clinton is "quite a looker", and hopes she can live to see a female be President of the US. We asked her if she ever found interest in anyone else after Great Grandpa passed, and she said that God had other plans; "besides, who wants to cook and clean for another man, and pay for a wedding all over again?" then she winked at us. When I asked her what she would do more of if she could? She said without a doubt, she would travel.

Caleb wanted to have a little fun with her. Back story...any of you who know us for real, know that my husband LEGITIMATELY wants to name our future son Thor...its not a joke. So he asked "Grandma Agnes, what do you think of the name Thor?" --- "the name what?" -- "THOR...T-H-O-R"... "what do you mean?" (I'm cracking up at this point)...he says "like, for a baby boy", and she started laughing so hard she had to put the napkin over her face and said "Caleb honey, to be frank, I don't quite like it". She just made my night. I love her spunk and sassiness. 

I hope to be just like her.

Cheers, to 84 years!

Also a huge birthday hug to one of my favorite ladies, Anna! I'm so happy to have "met" you through this crazy blog-land...and I hope we can make it official this summer!

23 comments:

  1. This is the sweetest. Grandparents (and great grandparents) are a precious, precious thing. And how lucky you are to have your great grandmother with you all. My grandfather was up texting me (yes! texting.) about local news until midnight last night! Love that man.

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  2. Awww she is so sweet and hilarious! Happy 84 years!

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  3. I love that you and Caleb did this - I bet it made her whole week!! It is strange to think that about grandparents at a young age but they have such great stories!! My grandma will be 80 this Saturday and I feel like she's still just as spunky as she was when she was 20! Reading my grandpa's autobiography is one of my favorite things to do. It's amazing to read about his childhood and life before I know him!

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  4. Sweetest post EVER!!! I may have gotten tears in my eyes!! I know this meant so much to her and you too! You are so blessed to have a great grandmother. I lost all of my grandparents years ago and never even knew one of them, let alone knowing my GGPs. What a gift, Kayla!!

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  5. This is ADORABLE! She is adorable! You, my friend are SO beautiful...inside and out! :D I'm sure your great grandma LOVED this little date with you and Caleb. So thoughtful.

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  6. ADORABLE! I unfortunately don't have any grandparents, or great grandparents for that matter. (and CV only has one grandparent, but she unfortunately lost her memory years ago.) So happy you still have these amazing people in your life and that you are cherishing this time with them!! :)

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  7. I didn't every really know my great grandparents, but my boys do remember their "grandma greats" and "grandpa great", who have all passed away since Leah was born. How cool that you know her!

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  8. this is so great! I wish i had grandparents (let alone great grandparents!) around but the fact that you spend time with her is so amazing!

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  9. I love Agnes and her sweet spirit :) It's such a blessing to know grandparents and great-grandparents in our adult years!

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  10. So sweet! I was lucky enough to have my great-grandparents for most of my childhood, and still have all my grandparents. It is funny sometimes though to hear their stories--you forget they were young once too!
    And the Thor thing is hilarious...my sister's fiance wants to name their future son Hercules, and my dad keeps egging them on!

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  11. This is so dang sweet, Kayla... as much as you guys enjoyed that night, I'm sure it meant even more to her! How special! <3

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  12. What an awesome lady (and I really like the name Agnes)! I hope she does get to see a female president ;)

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  13. love that you took the time to do this!! and the bill clinton thing! haha! and HOW is your great grandma as old as my grandma? that is so neat that you can get to know your great grandma! like..wow! xoxo

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  14. I love this! My grandma will be 96 in a couple weeks. A while back Aaron and I were visiting her and we quizzed her about all sorts of stuff. She used to hitchhike 50 miles on Sunday nights to get to the town where she worked and then back home again on Friday nights. Oh, she had some stories!

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  15. Aw, I LOVE this! My great grandma passed away two years ago, but about a year before that I got to spend a day with her, just the two of us. It was the one and only time I'd ever gotten to do that, and I was BLOWN AWAY by the things she was telling me about her life. It's weird... I'd never really thought of her as a person before that, she was always just Grandma Myrna, like she'd sprung into existence as an old lady. But no, she was kicking ass and taking names way back when women didn't really do that kind of thing!

    So yeah, long story short, love this post! lol. :)

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  16. What a wonderful time for you all! This makes me want to go home and call my grandma :) She is the only grandparent I have left and she will be 80 soon. Love these stories and I must ask my gma some of the same questions! Great post!

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  17. that is awesome you get to hang out with your great grandma! happy 84 years to her!

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  18. She seems like the sweetest person! So glad you had some great time together.

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  19. This is so sweet. I love this!

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  20. oh so sweet! I was very close to my great-grandmother who passed away last September. I wish that I could have asked her all these questions!

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  21. This is absolutely precious and so special that you got to do this. It brought a smile to my face!

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  22. Awww, how sweet. Want to hear something funny? My MOM was born in 1947 and my grandma was born in 1910 - so crazy that your GREAT grandma is closer in age to my Mom!

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Thanks for your comments, I read and respond to every single one of them! :) Excited to get to know you!