Happy Birthday Grandma Bogue!
Love this picture of her with my mom.
I miss my grandmother a lot. Both of my grandmothers, actually. I'm sad that I was a teenager when they both died. I didn't fully understand the importance of grandparents at that age. But I have a firm belief that we will all have the opportunity to see and know our loved ones again (see here for more info). For now I can try to preserve their memories through pictures and stories. Its easier for me since my girls are named after my grandmother and her best friend, Eleanor and Evelyn.
My girls are sooo much fun. In some ways they actually remind me of both Grandma Bogue and Grandma Dorris. Ellie is actually more like Grandma Doris than she is her name sake because that girl is s-a-s-s-y. Among Grandma Doris' many famous stories is the tale of her interview with the head of a retirement village she was looking into. The director asked her if she knew how to get help in case of an emergency and Grandma put her hand to her head and started swooning and eventually fell onto the floor. After a moment of confused panic on the part of the director and suppressed laughter/embarrassment on the part of my aunt, Grandma stood up and informed the director that absolutely does know how to get attention when she needs it. I can definitely see Ellie pulling something like that one day.
Evelyn, on the other hand, is a little harder to read since she can't talk or make intentional movements yet. But she does smile at me and make me feel loved. Grandma Bogue was not a woman who liked to be messed with. She enjoyed sitting quietly in her chair and watching Lawrence Welk or doing a crossword. But she definitely made me feel loved. She always had treats to share (sugar free of course) and she had the most fun dresser full of cool jewelry and the occasional rogue cigarette for me to explore and discover (I'm not sure I was supposed to know about the cigarettes but I definitely remember coming across one or two... though I'm sure she didn't smoke). My favorite memory about my Grandma Bogue though is the way she talked about her husband, her Charlie. From her I developed a sense of what I wanted in my marriage: undying love, timeless devotion, willingness to wait decades to see each other again. I never knew my grandfather, he died a few years before I was born, but Grandma still talked about him as if he was in the other room. And because of their love for each other I've spent my life looking for a man that I can love as much as she loved her Charlie. I'm pretty sure I've found him.
Anyway, part of the reason I've made it a goal to write in this blog at least once a week this year is to help me develop a bit of family history. My girls won't get to meet their great-grandmothers for a long time but I hope that I can still ensure that their legacy is part of their lives.
So happy birthday Grandma Bogue (and to Grandma Doris in September). I love you both and I'm grateful for the memories I have of you.
Here's a picture of Grandma Doris too:
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