Grandma Bonnie

Aunt Marsha wanted to have a few memories of Grandma Bonnie from everyone.  When Mom told me I was a little overwhelmed.  I mean I have so many great memories of her.  So this is what I came up with.  I told Matt it wasn't easy.  I had to stop a few times and get my emotions under control again.  She was such a special lady.

Grandma Bonnie:  Sheesh.  What can I say, I could go on and on I’m sure.  Of course making the cinnamon rolls every year for the celebration.  We would start early in the morning.  Or what I thought was early.  By the time I got there Grandma already had the dough rising and was ready to get started.  We would work all day.  She worked so hard to make sure everyone was fed well for the celebration.  I remember so much about her cooking.  When I am cooking now, I always ask for her help when I am making something of hers.  Every year she made the jello popcorn balls for the trick-or-treaters.  They were so good.  She would always plenty for Halloween and for a few days later.  For Thanksgiving she would have the carrot salad and the pretzel salad.  I know there was other food but that was my favorite.  Grandpa always said he taught her how to cook.  Whoever taught her she was a good learner.  Then during Christmas she made so much candy.  She would every once in a while have me try to pull the taffy.  It was so hot.  I couldn’t believe how her and Grandpa would just sit there and pull and pull like they couldn’t feel a thing.  I loved her divinity and fudge.  I really could go on and on about her in her kitchen.

Us kids didn’t sleep over often but when we did we had a good time.  She would make me a paper doll and we would sit at the table and cut out clothes in magazines for them.  That was so much fun.  I usually did ok until it got dark.  They always watched TV with the lights out and I hated it.  I would sit in the kitchen and do my cutting not wanting to go in the living room because they were watching America’s Most Wanted.  I would be so nervous when it was finally time for bed.  Grandma always let me sleep in the kitchen on the old chair by the stove.  When the all the cousins came we would all sleep in the living room all in a row with her big camp quilts and our feet tucked in all cozy. 

I loved Grandmas hands.  She always had her nails painted and they looked so nice.  Sometimes when I have a certain color on my fingers I see grandma’s hands.  We would play some games with our hands and I always told her she was so fast.  I could never catch her hands.  She smelled good always too, and always had pretty jewelry on.  She always took good care of her skin and you could tell.  I remember her always telling Amy to put a hat on or she was going to get wrinkly. In the morning she would say she needed to put her face on and do her hair.

When we would brand at the Jensen ranch we would go over to a nice place in the field and have a picnic.  It tasted so good.  It seemed like we ended up branding on St. Patrick’s Day quite a bit.  Of course I was not thinking about that when I would be getting ready for the day.  I would get to her house after being pinched by my brothers the whole way and she would go to her room and bring me a green pin to put on my shirt.  I have the little pin still.

I always had a good time when I was with Grandma.  As I got older and spent a lot of time with her while she did her dialysis we would just talk.  Or she would talk to everyone around her in the hospital.  Then when we were done sometimes we would go get us a sandwich at Arby’s. 

I am so happy that Matt got to meet Grandma.  He likes to talk about her almost as much as I do.  Sometimes we will tell people that we were all around her when she passed away.  Then we start laughing and we tell the story how Phyllis, Grandma’s neighbor, killed her when she walked in the room and Grandma decided she was over it.  Then they look at us like we are crazy and we shouldn’t be laughing.  They obviously didn’t know my grandma.  She had the best sense of humor.  She might have learned that from Grandpa.