It made me think back to my grandma and how much I loved her. My little ones and my husband will never get to meet her. But I wanted to write a little about her so that her great-grandchildren can read this later and get to know what she was like.
Her name was Betty (Winkler) Belsly and she was a lot a woman! It seemed, at least when we were little, that she towered over grandpa physically. And she was a good cook. Always making really good tasting foods that probably weren't very good for you. She always had her hair done neatly with these fluffy curls. I used to love to feel the hairspray/stiffness when she came right back from getting it done. She was loving and welcoming. And because she was a big woman, she seemed so much more fun to cuddle with! :)
Going to her house was so fun for me. First of all, her and grandpa lived on the farm. My cousins lived down the street and it was just fun to have all this family in close quarters. Their farmhouse always had a bowl of peanut m&ms(I don't like those) a bowl of skittles in the dining room, and a bowl of regualr m&ms in the living room. ALWAYS refilled, always available. She had a separate refrigerator out in the shed. This was always filled with cream soda, root beer, grape soda and other delicious drinks. Her pantry always had vanilla sandwich creme cookies, and there was always a block of valveeta cheese in the fridge to have cheese and crackers. And man, she made the best grilled cheese sandwiches ever. And fried potatoes for breakfast after you spent the night. As a kid, these little things are what you remember about going to grandma's. Pure spoiled gluttony that you never got at home!
And she had a 'playroom' and I SWEAR that she always seemed to clean it up after us? But it had fun toys and dress-up clothes.
Grandma was also the best gift giver. At Christmas and birthdays, you never got something from her that would need to be returned. She just knew! And she threw a birthday party for every grandchild, on Sundays. I remember being really anxious sitting through church knowing we'd get to go over for a party after sunday school. And it didn't matter that it wasn't MY birthday, because she always made us all feel special: All of us grandkids would get a gift bag just because. Always had a fun little toy, or some money and candy. She did that for years! So thoughtful. And she always made a fresh cake by hand. These little acts of love that I hope I can do when I'm a grandma!
Grandma died when I was in high school. I remember getting called out of class and going to the office with Adam and cousin Jaymie to tell us that she wasn't doing well. I'm glad we got to leave school for the day and go to the hospital and we literally got to see her take her last breaths. A couple years later, I worked at the pharmacy after school most days. I remember delivering prescriptions to an elderly woman in Spring Bay and I don't remember her name. But she lived alone and was asking my name. When I told her I was a Belsly, she started to get choked up. She told me that Grandma and her were in a Bible Study together and that Grandma was one of the most wonderful people she knew. She said she could call her at anytime and ask her questions about God and she would make her feel better. It made me proud! And it's true...I remember calling her on the phone as a child because I had the number memorized. She would always answer and talk, she never made you feel like you were wasting her time. I even called her crying once when I was trying to help deliver a little of kittens on my sidewalk that kept coming out dead! She was calming and sweet and stayed on the phone with me the whole time.
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