Thursday, May 17, 2012

my grandmother

My Grandmother passed away earlier this week and I am going to miss her terribly.  I grew up right across the street from she and my Grandpa and am so thankful now that I have so many wonderful memories from that time.

She was an incredible woman with such a heart of service and a humble attitude.  Admired and loved by so many people.

She grew up on a farm in Illinois with four brothers and sisters and did all of the things that farm kids do.  I always loved hearing those stories about life on the farm.  After high school she moved to Washington D.C. and took a job with the Navy department opening classified mail to help with the war effort.  Rumor has it she was also asked to christen a Navy ship but was so shy and humble that she turned down the offer. She didn't ever talk about this period in her life very much but I can only imagine that she had all of the sailors falling all over her.  She met my Grandpa after moving back to Illinois but had only seen him a handful of times before they married since he was from Colorado.  I guess most of their courtship was done writing letters.  How sweet!  Oh how I wish those letters were still around.

As much as I am going to miss her and making new memories together I have had so much fun this week going though old pictures of her that I have never seen before and getting a glimpse into her early life.

My Grandma (bottom right) with her four sisters

A young Martha having a tea party with her two older sisters

I love how she sticks out like a sore thumb in this school photo - dead center (as a side note her oldest sister Jenny was her school teacher - top right)

A family portrait on the farm in Illinois (she is far left)

 

I adore her wedding dress with lace imported from France (she even still fit in it for her 30th wedding anniversary!)


One of my favorite "new" pictures of her with my Grandpa, taken in an automatic photobooth in the St. Louis train station probably right after their wedding as they were headed to Colorado for their honeymoon and new life together.

Wasn't she just beautiful!  She stayed so stylish and classy her whole life too.  There is a whole closet full of custom made hats in her house that I always loved to try on whenever I visited.  Now if only I was 4'10" and as petite as she was.

I love you Grandmother and will miss you so much.

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