list 43 things about my grandma, so that I'll never forget

30) Grandmother had very fine hair, it was as soft as baby hair. When she came to live with us before she died, I put her hair up in curlers and was shocked by the softness of it. It wasn’t thin, just baby fine.

31) Later in life, when her hair was becoming a bit dull and grey, she said that when she looked in the mirror, she still saw raving red hair.

32) She worked for a short time as a telephone operator – the kind that connected calles by plugging wires into a call-board.

33) Her husband’s name was Clark Reedy. Her maiden name was Gibbs and she was raised around Hauser Lake Washington.

34) She grew up in the depression and her family was very poor.

35) She had three brothers: Elton, Leslie (Les) and her little brother Roy (Zip).

27) Grand loved a nice hot bath, and also loved bath powder. I remember climbing in her lap or sitting next to her on her scratchy old couch after she had bathed, and she always smelled so nice.
28) Grandmother didn’t travel well. Once she decided it was time to go home, she was like a horse on a mission to get home. We were lucky to get to stop for potty breaks!
29) She loved the state of Wyoming. Not sure why, perhaps wild west history?? She also loved roadrunners.

23) She was a big fan of the underdogs and always seemed to pick up strays. We seemed to always have kittens or puppies that Grand found. Sometimes she would befriend the underdog people too…
24) She didn’t trust my driving and wouldn’t ride in a car while I was driving until I was an adult…like way adult.
25) She was a terrible cook. She used to make cookies and I would give them to my dog. When I moved my bed to clean I found a pile of cookies in the corner under the bed. Even the dog wouldn’t eat those raisin drop cookies!
26) She was tall and thin.

20) She had a tin full of buttons in her bedroom. I always think of her when I see button tins. I keep a tin full of buttons too. When the kids were little, I used to let them sort through the tin on special occasions. Makes me feel warm inside thinking about her…them…buttons.
21) Grandy would wear curlers in her hair and she would put an old pair of my underwear on her head over the curlers instead of a cap. they were pink.
22) She was as stubborn as a rock.

17)When we would come home from a trip out of state (usually Oregon), Grand would sing the chorus to the Idaho state song…She would sing “And here we have Idaho” when we would cross the boarder into Idaho.
18) She was secretly married to a man before my grandfather. None of us knew about this man until she was very old, and her little brother leaked the information one flag day (small town celebration with a parade) when he had had too much to drink…Good old uncle Zip. She went to her grave without talking about it.
19)Grand loved babies, and she could always predict what someone was having.

11) Good posture was important to her. She would have us walk with books on our head in the living room.
12) She was fiercely patriotic, and felt like she fought the wars along side of those brave soldiers (emotionally anyway).
13) She would sit on her scratchy floral hid-a-bed couch with a book in one hand and a cigarete in the other hand. She would forget to flick her cigarette because she was so engaged with the book, and she would get a long ash balaned on top of her cigarette.
14) She raised four daughters: Nancy, Sally, Margaret and Katherine.
15) She was such a great gardner that some of our friends used to call her Mother Nature.
16) One time we had a flash flood come down from the forrest behind our house. Grandmother stood on our front porch and shook her fist at the flood and said “don’t you dare!”, because it was heading right for our yard. The flood came down to our fence line, made a sharp right turn, and went around our fenceline into the neighbor’s yard. From that day on, I KNEW she had special mother nature powers…I think she did too.

1. Had brilliant red hair and an attitude to support it
2. Was the only daughter in her family. She had three brothers
3. Loved to read. Read anything she could get her hands on
4. Loved to garden. We had the prettiest yard in town
5. Wore a blue sweater and had horned rimmed glasses for years
6. Worked as a CNA
7. Made beautiful quilts for her family. Every grandaughter had one
8. Used an old black singer sewing machine which she promised me when I turned 16.
9. Had a porceline doll named Carlie. I have her in my hope chest.
10. Loved baseball. Was a fierce fan of the Atlanta Braves.