ODE TO GRANNY/ open letter

My Granny can cook up a mean country breakfast, and she always has cookies in the gallon jar. She can knit and garden, bake home made bread, you name it she can do it.
She told me once that she used to make bed sheets from old flour sacks, and sew her own underwear.

She’ll always greet you with a strong hug saying, “Give us a squeeze.” And she doesn’t mind pinching anyone’s ass. She’s not afraid to say what she thinks, and don’t worry, she will.

She loves to tell stories from the past and I love to hear them. She talks about her sisters and brothers, her parents, their siblings, and on and on. She has photos, too. She’d love to show them to you.

She is strong, and will overcome anything. I know a few young ladies who have inherited that gene.

She has poured out her life in service to others, whether helping raise her own siblings, or working as a nurse, having her own family, to caring for ailing in-laws, and serving her own brothers at the farm.

Though life is hard, Granny always knows it could be worse. You can always count on her to joke around, no matter what the circumstance.

Crooked Creek Church is where she wants to be Sunday morning, just like she has been for so many years. Of one thing I am sure, Granny has faith, I can see it in her eyes. And when things are hard, and we can’t find words to express, I am comforted to know, that this is where God still speaks in his still small voice.

May God Himself be your comfort through this time.

We love you.

A Father and his child.

The other day we were at the skating rink in town. It is an indoor rink, where many award winning skaters are born, as well as champion hockey teams. We were there at an open skate, just fooling around, giving our kids the chance to get comfortable on skates and have fun. At one point I was on the sidelines with my youngest, and i looked up and was awestruck. Now don't get me wrong, there are talented skaters even in open skate- spinning, twirling and lutzing around. That is fun to watch, but this was different. It was as if everyone on the ice was in slow motion, and here was a young father, probably a star hockey player not long ago, bobbing and weaving, soaring above and below everyone, round and round the rink, at a speed at least 10 (probably 20)times faster. I don't even know if those around saw him, they certainly didn't seem to. He was just so fast, but we had an outside view and it was stunning. Not just his skating, which was so powerful, and graceful at the same time. I don't know if I've ever seen that before, but it was the fact that he was holding his son, probably 2 or 3 years old. He had skates on too, and his father would hold him up high and then low so his skates could touch the ice. A perfect dance. And to see the look on his son's face, hands held out. He knew he was flying...no he was soaring, carried by the strength of his father. All thrills and joy, no fear. Complete trust. It was beautiful. I couldn't help but cry. I'll never forget the mixture of grace and strength the father had, and I'll never forget the look on his son's face. The purest joy on earth.

I want to soar like that.

25 random things about me.

1. usually i take bugs outside, instead of kill them. (unless they are house centipedes, because they are hideous!, and make my skin crawl, i think they are a result of sin entering the world)
2. I love burnt orange-it's my favorite color.
3.I think about the ocean alot- huges waves, rocks- i yearn for it actually.
4.I grew up on a dairy farm, and am pround to be a native minnesota hillbilly.
5.i have a really wierd dent in the back of my head, i have a friend that used to rub it for good luck.
6. i used to be in gymnastics and volleyball in junior high.
7. I almost always make decisions based on feelings, which is confusing sometimes. especially to my husband., he is like a rock to me, when i am tossed about in emotion.
8. Sometimes i think i want to have a farm with chickens and sheep, and a huge garden.
9. Other times i think i might be lonely in the country, and am thankful for city life and next door neighbors.
10. I spend alot of time thinking about faith, and jesus, life, and death.
11. I get restless alot, especially sunday nights.
12. I have a big scar on my foot from sliding down the car windshield and getting stuck in the windshield wiper, when i was 3.
13. I have a really strange story about being electrecuted while i was sleepwalking. (you can ask me sometime- hence the scar in my lip)
14. We lived so rural growing up, that my birthday parties were in the newspaper, along with who attened, and what was served.
15. I like graveyards.- but not in a dark sick way.
16. I love to travel, and see new places, new people, new everything- but i also like coming home.
17. I love everything creative.
18. I have ridden in an ambulance twice.
19. I have been in lots of car accidents, .............and gotten alot of tickets.
20.I love to look at nature close up, like the delicate patterns on a leaf, and then look up at the sky, and think about the cosmos.
21. I haven't been to any of the 10,000 lakes in minnesota, ...yet. ( which makes me feel like a tourist in my home state.)
22. I would rather pay a little more for something quality, but i buy most things second hand, or get them off freecycle.
23. I like eggplant- mostly because its purple, and shiny.
24. I love books, when you find the right one at the right time.- but not fiction, really.
25. I barely ever have matching socks, unless i grab them out of my mom's sock drawer.