My grandma passed away last night and I just want to put some memories and thoughts down here. I realized that my blog is more for me than anyone. I like to put memories down so I can...well...remember. Most of the time it is milestones for my children or a funny they said. This time it is for my dear Grandma. Grandma Mogie.
Whenever I was with my Grandma, I felt like a million bucks. When introducing me to one of her friends, she would say "This is Cindy Jo. She is my only granddaughter after 9 grandsons". Since I was her only granddaughter, I had some special privileges. She bought me a nightgown to keep at her house so I could spend the night whenever I wanted (and whenever mom and dad let me). I had dolls and a doll bed at her house. She crocheted me an Easter dress one year. I inherited her piano only because I was her granddaughter. We had a special bond.
I was privileged to grow up 2 blocks from my grandma's house. Although we didn't have an open door policy, we did see Grandma often. Every Sunday evening, after church, we would go to her house. I am sure we occasionally missed, but it was a rare occasion. My siblings and I have talked about how much food we would eat at her house. She would buy lots of good snacks like Sun Chips, Dairy Queen ice cream by the quart, Cheetos, candy, cookies, Diet Mt. Dew, Pringles, Sunny D. I list all these to say, she had a spread. And I'm pretty sure after we left, we had pretty well cleaned her out. We didn't get much junk food at home, but we made up for it at Grandmas.
I spent the largest portion of time with my Grandma in our suburban traveling to games. As early as I have memories, my brothers were involved in sports. So in addition to Sunday evenings, we would spend at least one -and as many as five- other days together. I sat in the middle seat and she was to my left. I would buckle her seat belt for her. Our high school mascot is the Bluejays. Her license plate was IM4JAYS. I think that explains a lot. We loved ball games. Oh, and she always brought her snacks along. :)
My Grandma loved numbers. She liked to count things, like train cars when we were waiting in the suburban. She enjoyed stamps, money, and coins. And probably the best example of her love of numbers involves my brother, Randy. Grandma Mogie was born in 1922. My brother Randy was born in 1977. In 1999, Randy was 22 and Grandma was 77. Grandma thought this should be in the Sabetha Herald and I remember her being put out when it was not published. Similar to her love of numbers, she loved names. She liked unique names and twin names that rhymed. She is the only person that called me by my first and middle name almost all the time. She did it for her kids and other grand kids too.
Grandma loved to laugh and have a good time. The times I remember her laughing the most, she was laughing at herself. I remember 2 times in particular. The first one she was trying to tell us about her pipes that were cracking and in need of repair. Instead she said her cracks were piping and then proceeded to crack up. We laughed about that for days. The second was when she tipped over her lawn chair for the second time trying to catch a foul baseball. She was a bit of a practical joker too. Once she frosted a pan for my brother Josh's birthday and made it look like a cake. She liked those trick birthday candles that can't be blown out. We always had a good time.
Grandma loved music. She had a lot of sheet music and hymn books. She taught herself how to play piano and played for her church. I think she enjoyed the words more than the melody because she had a thing for poetry. She always said she couldn't read music but she could play the piano and sing alto, so I'm not sure how that works. My freshman year, I wasn't in the school musical (Music Man) but was in the pit orchestra. She came to watch and support me, as she always did, but didn't quite follow the story line. She left at intermission thinking it was the end. Once again, we got a good laugh.
My grandma had a lot of different interests and hobbies. She liked to do puzzles in the winter. She also crocheted and taught me how to when we had 2 snow days from school. She did the crypt-a-quote from the paper every day. She had a book of words (that she made) organized by number of letters in the word, as well as a book of authors to help her with the puzzles. She was pretty possessive of her book, as it took her a long time to put together, and wouldn't share it with her friends. She collected elephants. A LOT of elephants. She was a committed republican, so I assume that had something to do with it. She kept up with current events through the newspaper. She had many scrapbooks of newspaper clippings from different events. Some of these books included the O.J. Simpson trial, John Bennet Ramsey case, and Princess Diana. She was a regular watcher of Wheel of Fortune and Who wants to be a Millionaire? whenever she was home. I know I am missing a hobby or interest, but all this to say she had many.
Once Grandma moved to assisted living, she became more possessive of her family. Whenever we went to visit, if another resident wanted to see what we were up to Grandma did not take to kindly to it. She wanted us to herself. She dearly loved to visit.
As I think about my Grandma, I am so thankful for the many wonderful memories I have with her. She was very much a part of my everyday life. She loved me. I think there is a large part of her in me. Many of the qualities she had that I have written about, I share with her. I dearly love to laugh and I have a random assortment of hobbies and interests.
I think as people pass away, there is a tendency to remember them as perfect. My Grandma was not perfect. She needed the blood of a Savior just like any of us. From the time I was little, Grandma has been ready for Heaven. She talked about "not being around" often. She has had her funeral planned for a good portion of my life (if not all). I know she was ready. But I also know I will miss her. She wasn't the same Grandma to me these last few years as her health and strength declined and her memory (one of her best abilities) failed her. But she was still my Grandma and she almost always knew who I was and would call me by name- Cindy Jo.
Florence Mae Wertenberger. Better know as Flossie. Best know (to me) as Grandma Mogie. For the rest of my days, I will remember her with a smile.
