Grandmemories

I have such fond memories of visiting my grandparents as I was growing up.  I remember swinging on the rope swing at my grandma and grandpa Russell’s house or playing “Restaurant” through the cistern cover at my grandma and grandpa Flamm’s.  We lived within 5 minutes of both grandparents, so we saw them for every birthday, every holiday and randomly throughout the week.

As a young child, I loved having them around but always thought they were old-fashioned and loved to squeeze my cheeks a little too hard.  I guess that’s how most kids feel about their grandparents, since the times in which they grew up in were much different than what we grew up in.

My grandmother Russell had a tradition with all of her grandchildren.  For every birthday, she would take them out to lunch and then to the store to pick out a single birthday gift.  I remember being obsessed with the Puppy Surprise toy as a young kid  and that was my choice of gift for several years in a row.

My grandpa Flamm – we called him “PaPa” – was a veteran and we would always go to the cemetery on Memorial Day to watch him stand and shoot with the Ritual team.  Afterwards, he would collect the shells from the ground and distribute them to whichever grandchildren were present and taught us how to whistle with them.

My grandpa Russell raised bunnies and we always had to put baby powder on our hands before holding the babies so that our scent didn’t deter the mama bunnies from taking them back.

My grandma Flamm – we called her “Nin” – always loved being surrounded by her grandchildren (27 in total!)  You never left either place feeling unloved, that’s for sure.

Looking back now, all I have are pictures of them.

All of them have been gone for several years now.  When they are no longer here, you don’t realize how quickly you can forget the sound of their voice.  You spend a significant portion of your life sharing your joys and sadnesses with them, and then there comes a point when they aren’t here anymore to share in those times.

As children, we look up to our grandparents with love and admiration, believing that they are invincible and we’ll have them around forever.  Because of that, we may not fully recognize the blessing that they are to us – we may take for granted the time that we have with them.  But once they have passed away, we understand all too well that our time with them was fleeting.  In the blink of an eye, we have grown up and all we have are the memories of them to cherish.  These memories are what we pass on to our own children, to keep the spirit of our grandparents alive.

Now having a daughter of my own, I realize the importance of creating those priceless memories.

As I have created special memories with my grandparents, Abbie will create special memories with her grandparents that she will be able to pass on to her children one day.
She will play in the creek at the ski lodge and skip rocks with her grandma Lorrie.
She will ride the tractor with her grandpa JP.
She will go to her first Cubs and Hawkeye game with her grandpa Dave.
She will pick daffodils and learn how to ride a horse with her grandma Debbie.

In this wonderful circle of life, it is important to remember how limited our time is.
We are not here forever, not even close.
If we don’t enjoy today and make memories with our loved ones, what will live on after we’ve gone?
With the distractions of electronics and social media today, it can be very hard to shut everything down and make some good old-fashioned memories with your family.

But I guarantee you – if you don’t do it, you will regret it.  You will wake up tomorrow and your kids will be grown, your parents will be aged and you will wonder where the time went.  It goes by so fast, so spend your time making memories that will live on for generations.

As the tune by Jim Witters says – “Stolen moments are all we have”
Don’t let them pass by.

 (I do not own this song.  Artist: Jim Witters, Song: Stolen Moments)