My Grandma Olson

"What children need most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance. They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, lessons in life. And, most importantly, cookies." ~Rudolph Giuliani


My grandma gave us bread. Fresh, homemade, straight-from-the-oven yeasty warm bread. Even today when I think of my Grandma's house, I smell bread. If you've never breathed in that delectable aroma, I'm sorry for you because it is heaven on earth. She made pretty good donuts, too, but it's the bread that brings me back to Milaca, Minnesota where my Grandma lived.

Today, September 9, 2012 is Grandparent's Day. Celebrated the first Sunday after Labor Day, President Jimmy Carter signed a proclamation to that effect in 1978 after Marian McQuade, a West Virginia grandmother, campaigned for a national holiday to honor grandparents. I was shocked when I learned the holiday had been around that long. My grandma was still around then (she passed in 1986) and I don't think I was ever able to honor my only grandparent with a "Happy Grandparent's Day." But I love the idea - most of us need all the little "pushes" that come our way to remind us to let our loved ones know we love them - and why.

My siblings and I grew up in southern Wisconsin. If I remember correctly, we went up to Minnesota to see Grandma pretty much once a year and she traveled down to see us every year. She'd come on the train and it was such fun to go meet her at the depot that still existed then. Since she wasn't able to be the "every day" kind of grandma, she was somewhat of an "exotic being" to us. (My mom's mom, Grandma Olson was the only granparent we ever knew; both my dad's parents and my mother's father were dead before my parents' marriage.)

My daughter, Emily, assigned her second graders to journal about their grandparents this weekend; she thought it was only right that she do so, too. She wrote: "My grandparents were great! 1. My grandpa raised my dad right. 2. My grandma made me a Cubs fan. (no jokes please!) 3. My grandpa could fix anything. 4. My grandma gave me the desire to sew."

So, that got me thinking, too, and this is what I remember about my Grandma, Lillian Marie Peterson Olson:
1) She loved Jesus, her Bible and her church. She was a Godly woman who walked daily with her Lord and Savior and I'm grateful for the wonderful Christian heritage that is mine because of her.

2) She loved her family. A mother of seven (4 girls and 3 boys), she was a farm wife and a one-room schoolteacher. Her husband passed away at age 49; one of her daughters also died young, at age 18 - just a few days after my birth. Grandma didn't become bitter, though, only better. She was adventurous, too. In 1974 Grandma accompanied her oldest daughter, my mother, on a month-long trip to see her oldest daughter (me) and brand new baby daughter (Angie) in what was then West Berlin, Germany. Neither woman was a world traveler and Grandma was in her 70's by then. We lived on the 6th floor (no elevator), had no car and it was 6 blocks to the subway or 6 to the bus.

3) She was an artist, dabbling in oil painting and water colors. (What a choice of words, "dabbling!" I should be able to "dabble so well!). On my list of treasures to grab on the way out the door, should my house ever be about to be caught in a wildfire (always a possibility in SW Montana), are my 4 Grandma Olson paintings and her hand-painted wooden plate and spoon, emblazoned with the Swedish words "Give us our daily bread."

4) She was a writer, of Bible studies, a play or two and lots of poems, many of which I've read. She was very wise, and very clever with words. (I remember her speaking chilling, "spooky" words one fun Halloween as she passed around "guts" (cold spaghetti) and "eyeballs" (slimy grapes)

5) She was a patient, tolerant woman - until our piano banging on her closed-in porch just got to be too much and she asked us to not stop, but "quiet down, just a little." She expected us to listen and obey, and I think we did. At least until the next time she had to say it!

6) She was generous, both with her worldly goods (and their weren't many of those) and her love. For many years, without fail, each of her 25 grandchildren could expect a birthday card with a dollar tucked inside. Christmas brought a dollar for each as well. You could buy more with a dollar in the 50's & 60's than you can today, but you certainly couldn't buy any more love. And whether you were a Minnesota grandkid, and got the blessing of her physical presence more often than the Wisconsin or Indiana ones, it didn't matter. You knew you were loved.

Grandma Olson knew how to be a good grandma. She stands today as my example in grandparenting. I'm looking forward to a heavenly chat with her one day about this very subject. I hope I pass! Happy Grandparent's Day, Grandma!