We've been thinking about our Grandma JoAnn a lot this week. Yesterday was her birthday. And though she's not here to celebrate, we took the time to think of lessons we learned from her.
One of Grandma's most famous sayings was "I had to laugh." She started nearly every story she told with that line, even when the story wasn't funny. It's a good reminder to find the humor in life's situations.
Grandma JoAnn rarely sat in her chair without a project in her hands and more piled high on the side table next to her. She was a prolific with her handiwork. She crocheted, embroidered, knit and sewed. Her crocheted doilies were famous and impressive. It goes to show that if you take advantage of the the time you have, you can accomplish a lot.
We often got to spend the night at Grandma's house. Saturday nights were spent watching Lawrence Welk and putting our freshly washed hair up in pink foam curlers. And Grandma would often let us play with her hair while she read us Dr. Seuss books. It all goes to show that getting dolled up and looking beautiful can be enjoyable.
Grandma was full of great sayings. She liked to remind her kids "your hands have to move faster than your mouth" while they were working. When our mom would leave us behind she would tell us that "crying won't bring her back any faster." And if we didn't stop crying, she'd stroke our bottom lip and tell us "a little birdie's going to come poop on your lip." That was usually a big enough threat, if not to stop crying, at least to pull in our frowny lip. Grandma's have the best little sayings.
We're so grateful Grandma took the time to teach our mom (and the rest of her 6 kids) how to do so many crafty and self-reliant things. We have benefited from her skills and get to enjoy a "little bit of everything" due to her example.
i love grandma jonann!
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