Remember 101 Years

How do you remember 101 years? My grandma passed away last Sunday at the age of 101. This was something that she had been praying for since I was a kid, so it was sweet that she finally made it home. However, that doesn't make it any easier for us left here. Even though she was showing signs of dementia she always would remember me. ...Until looking through pictures, I hadn't realized that my grandma hadn't worn her glasses the last few years of her life, I'd like to think that perhaps this is why she always asked who I was? She couldn't see me.

Anyhow in addition to losing my grandma who was my last living grandparent (aside from in-laws), I feel like I've had to say goodbye to my link to such a historic past. At a 101 she lived through so much, even though she never went to school past fifth grade or learned to drive a car. She endured the loss of an infant child, the years of unknown separation with her husband due to the war in Europe, and then came over to America to essentially have her family be work-slaves for a year while paying back the farmer who allowed them to them enter this country.

As a kid I didn't realize that she had such a hard past, I just thought she liked to stay home knit, crochet, sew, cook, clean, garden and mow the lawn. She's the one who first intrigued my mind with the beauty of crocheting and all things yarn. She created endless afghans and doilies for all of her family and it's nice that we each get something like that to hold onto.

I had previously written the Grandma Projects blog about her,
where I talked all about her skill of yarn.

At the funeral last week, each of her daughter's families created a poster board with pictures of Oma in our life. One cousin, stepped above and beyond by creating the board above. She put one of Oma's doilies and necklaces on the board and then scrapbooked photos of other things she made and loved on there as well. It was a great way to really connect with who Oma was.

It's hard to say goodbye, but I'm glad that I can keep the crocheting part of her alive.

Grandma Projects

Yesterday was my grandma's 100th birthday, so I thought I'd write a blog about her, the one who first introduced me to crocheting, although she never taught me, she pretty much made it as cool as it could be. As a kid I always remember seeing her crochet (and occasionally knit - but I can forgive her on that) evertime I visited her. I was fascinated by her skill and speed, she is much better than I'll ever be. The sweaters she made were awesome, granted if I posted pictures you'd beg to differ... as a result of 80's and 90's fashion. But some items she made are timeless. In fact just the other day my mom gave me a huge bag filled with an afghan and matching pillow that I received from my very first Christmas. I was taken back by the smell of nostalgia as I opened it.... why can't my projects smell like that? I have countless pillowcases, doilies and blankets from her. And while she hasn't crocheted in about 8 years, I still aspire to be at her skill level.