Page created by: Cory Grathwol

To a beautiful matriarch, and the rock of our family.

With most things in life, we are given a choice. The clothes we put on before we go to work, the car we drive, where we live, how we treat others, and what we eat are a few of those choices. In fact, with most things in life, we have a choice. One of the few things we do not get to chose is our family. As I have had time to reflect, it feels like we won the lottery.

Many people define their "success in life" by their professional careers, how much money is in their bank account before retirement, how quickly they climb the corporate ladder, or their physical possessions. Grandma did not care about these things. Yes, she was our biggest supporter, always cheering on our successes and for most of us, one of the first phone calls we would make when we achieved success. She was our biggest fan. Yes, you could find her at the mall every Friday with shopping bags as big as her little body, always looking for the best bargains. She decided many years ago that she wanted to be a mom and grandma (even a great grandma). The more the merrier! Having a family with grandpa and raising her children and grandchildren was of upmost importance for her and I would go as far to argue that this was her goal in life. This was how she defined her success: family.

Everyday since November 26th, like most of you, I have woken up with the feeling that a piece of my heart is missing. Grandma was so special to us all that it doesn't seem possible she could be gone. No matter how old she was, it never felt like we had enough time with her. Selfishly, I wanted to keep her in her red, brick home on Strub Road for eternity. With the addition of four new members to our family in 2021, there was no one more excited than grandma and I know we all wish she would be here to meet her great grand babies.

We will miss her constant offering of ice cream, bubblegum, Pepsi, and/or licorice before you could leave her home. How she would be "sleeping", but listening to every background conversation because after all, we know she was too nosey to miss out on a conversation. We will miss her phone calls and how after many years she still did not know how to hang up her cellphone. We will miss her standing in the driveway as we pulled out to leave, with her head in the car blowing kisses for the tenth time. How can we see a bottle of Baileys Irish Cream without thinking of grandma? We will miss her little chuckle and the constant smile on her face.

As grandma got older, grandpa became the one to offer ice cream, bubblegum, Pepsi and licorice. She spent a majority of her days sleeping peacefully (still not convinced she wasn't listening to our conversations). Phone calls became a rarity and while she wasn't physically able to follow us to the driveway to blow kisses when we left, she still had a smile on her face. She definitely still loved her Baileys.

Grandma taught us the true meaning of love, and what it means to love unconditionally. You never left her house without feeling her love (and several dozen hugs and kisses). I know we will carry on her legacy, and as our family grows year by year, we will spread her love. After all, she was the type of grandma that author's write about in children's books. Almost too good to be true.

Love you forever, Grandma