The Madness Continues......: Burying Grandma

Grandma Teigen, my brother Jeremy, and me a few years ago.

This past Friday we buried my Grandma Teigen. She had been sick for a while, and was in an old folks home for the past 4 1/2 years. It's odd thinking about her being gone. It was always a joke that she was going to out live us all, but we were wrong.

I remember she loved singing. Loud. And it was exactly what you would expect from an older lady-closest word I can think of is "Operatic" if that is even a word. My sisters and I would spend 2 weeks every other summer with my grandparents, and when we would go to church, we would race to get the end of the pew so that we didn't have to sit next to her. Wendy-the youngest-tended to lose. I think we used to play dirty, shoving and all. We would sit and giggle through every song as she sang her heart out, thinking everyone around us was staring. I feel bad now, because she probably did have a really nice voice-I just never really gave her a chance.

She has always loved flowers. Real and Fake, and her house was always filled with both. Any bookshelf, coffee table, side table, counter, TV, or dresser with a 12 inch clearing would have some elaborate faux floral arrangement on it. Even though that was never my taste, I can honestly say-I can't look at fake flowers now and not think of her.

She taught us to play poker. She wanted to be remembered for something other than this, but really-there are worse things to be remembered for. It was a really fun way to pass the time during visits. She would get really into it, and even shattered a chip during an extra enthusiastic 'raise' one time. Grandma, Grandpa and I laughed for hours over that. Plus none of us grandkids turned into gambling degenerates, so she did a good job.

She loved to cook. Not always what I liked to eat. It was a crap shoot at her house if it would be something edible-to me-since I was a particularly picky kid. Still am. She cooked her eggs on one side only!!! Sunny side-up? More like Sunny side-yuck. I used to beg for scrambled eggs. When those were runny, I learned to ask for cereal. She would put butter and mayo on bread! Still not sure why. A non-sexual barrier method as far as I can tell, from how she explained it to my mom. And, the mayo wasn't smoothly spread over the whole slice of bread like I was used to. No. It was chunked on there, hiding like a ninja under the lettuce, waiting to attack. I looked a few times, and feeling safe that there wasn't any mayo in it, I bit in. SQUISH!!!! Mouthful of Mayonnaise. Gag. (Now that I think about it, this is probably the root of why I don't like mayo on my sandwiches. Makes sense.) Regardless, she was a good cook at times, and I had many entertaining dinners with her and my Grandpa where they would politely argue over who actually came up with the recipe for my favorite Italian Chicken. Compelling arguments for both, but I don't really care who came up with it. Someone did, and she cooked it fantastically. I try and make it, and it comes out nothing like hers. I will miss it. I will also miss having pork chops every week that I was with her. Hers were awfully tasty. Again, mine can't even compare.

She loved telling stories of her youth. She was a dancer, singer and all around fun person to hang out with-the way she tells it, and I loved hearing the magical tales of her WWII era single life. I also loved hearing about her talk about my Grandpa, Mom, and Uncles. I got to hear her side of stories, and she would giggle her way through telling them-which made me like hearing them even more.

She had awesome dress up clothes for me and my sisters to put on. Gold strappy high heels. Oh, how we used to fight to get these!!

MTV-a-la-Woodsworth. We used to get a little bored after 2 weeks of no TV, so my sisters and I would put on little plays, or "live videos" for our Grandparents. We would put on music, and dance to it while lip-syncing. She would sit and laugh at us make fools of ourselves, and my Grandpa would record it. When our other siblings would come up to get us, they would get in on the fun. We found the tape a few years ago. Nobody outside our family is allowed to see it. It's too embarrassing.

She loved dolls. Scary, expensive porcelain dolls. They were all over the house. I do not like dolls because of a rather creepy experience as a kid, so when I was moving up to go to college, and live with her and Grandpa, I asked her to remove all the dolls. She thought I was crazy, but took most of them away anyway. I thank her for that.

She coined the phrase "Eat a piece of cake for me." She wrote this on every one of our Birthday cards, for years. (There were 9 of us kids.) We would laugh every time we saw it, and actually missed seeing it when she stopped. Now, somebody has to say it every Birthday. It is a Classic line, that was started by her.

She loved Jewelry, crossword puzzles, nail polish, travelling, pottery, and getting her hair done. Her hair was always perfectly permed, and dyed. When she gave up on dying it and let it go naturally white, it was beautiful. Soft and pretty.

I may not have always enjoyed being around her, but I choose to let any differences go and remember the funny, caring Grandma that she was to me. We were very different, but I can look back at all the things she taught me and appreciate her for her. I love you Grandma. I really do.

A few pictures for those not able to make it.