I paid respects to Grandma in my own way by speaking at her funeral today. I gave the following remembrance: My grandma Ferguson was a sweet and funny lady that touched everyone in this room in some way. She had the biggest heart and helped anyone she could and gave them anything they asked for. I learned a lot from my grandma through the years. As I was thinking about what I wanted to say today, I realized my most fond memories with grandma I wanted to share were spent with her on the weekends as a kid growing up. The highlight of my weekend would be Saturday morning when I would do the yard sale rounds with her. Friday night she would spread out a newspaper and turn to the yard sale section. She would circle some addresses and comment on others saying how she thought their stuff was not worth as much as they were pricing it or that these people had a yard sale every month and the good stuff was gone. Some Saturday mornings would start with a pancake breakfast at a church in Hanover and those were especially good Saturdays for me. I would go with her to all the houses, sometimes staying in the car, sometimes getting out to look around. She always said, “pick out something, I’ll buy you anything you want.” A lot of times there would also be a friend in the car that grandma was giving a ride up the hill for or she was taking them to their job when the didn’t have a car. She would sometimes visit friends or take people carrot cake. This carrot cake by the way, I have come to learn, may have been the best carrot possibly ever made. I asked her a couple of years ago that her secret was and she said that she used cream cheese. I don’t think she realized I was asking for the actual recipe or maybe she did know and she wanted to keep it a secret. Either way the famous carrot cake recipe will stay with her and we can only assume it tasted so good because it was made with so much love. Some Saturdays would end with Grandma going to a church to donate blood. I distinctly remember her doing this a few times, but I don’t know how old I was. I would wait in the snack area enjoying a Little Debbie. When someone would ask who I was Grandma would so proudly introduce me as one of her grandbabies. I was a little embarrassed because the way grandma said “grandbabies” you could tell that there was a great amount of pride and distinction in being one of her grandchildren. She loved each of her grandchildren and great grandchildren so much and it was obvious, regardless of which of her sons the child belonged to. We would finish most evenings with an episode of Murder She Wrote. I remembered thinking that for such a nice small town there were a lot of murders that would happen there. We would also watch Walker, Texas Ranger. Grandma told me that Chuck Norris was "her man". But I now understand that Chuck Norris belongs to no one but Chuck Norris. When I got older, I would get Grandma to come to BINGO with me when I was in town if she was available. Grandma loved BINGO. I know that BINGO is a game of pure luck but I would have to classify Grandma as a BINGO player level: Expert. One time in particular, I remember being in a very smoky BINGO hall with her and there was a lady beside her puffing on a cigarette and coughing a lot. Grandma, in the middle of a very close game, finally said out loud , “Smoke another one and die already.” I don’t know if that was really her talking or if she was influenced by the magical trolls that she brought with her as good luck charms, but I knew then she was serious about BINGO and everyone at her table shpuld be taking it seriously too. Along with BINGO, another great love and passion she had was for her pets. She thought of her pets as her children and I am the same way with my 3 dogs, a quality in myself that is no doubt influenced by her. She also enjoyed getting her feet rubbed and her hair brushed. She enjoyed it so much that she would literally pay my brother and I on the weekends when we were little to do it. For a hefty 50 cents we were employed as massage therapists and hair stylists. I know now that what we were really being paid for was to stand there and talk and listen to her as she talked about the latest church happenings and town news. She was also talk a lot about Grandpa Ferguson and how she missed him. The last time I saw Grandma was late last month. We stopped by the nursing home to see her. You could tell she wanted to be home and with her pets, as anyone would. But her face did light up when we told her we were expecting our first child in November. We told her it was a girl and she seemed very excited. Although our daughter will never get to meet Grandma Ferguson in person, I will be able to share with her some of the skills and lessons she taught me such as the fundamentals of sewing pillows and making rugs or buying things on sale with the intention of giving it away or maybe finding a use for it as some point….maybe. But mostly I hope that I can pass on to my daughter Grandma’s passion. Her passion for helping others when you can, her charity, and her humor.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Jul 2013 22:33:17 +0000
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