A Tribute to Grandparents!

Last night Dave and I babysat our grandson for the first time while his parents went on a date night! It made me realize again what our parents missed, this routine involvement in their grandchildren's lives. And yet, at the same time, the impact that they have had.

I thought of Dave's father, who when he died left an amazing legacy.Every single grandchild had stories of some special memory of their beloved Grandpa, whether it was a visit while they were at Bible School, or a phone call asking about how the basketball games or piano lessons were going. He was a student of each child, knew what their interests were, and loved to tease them with that ever-present twinkle in his eye! We all miss him still.

Which brings me to the picture below. Two weeks ago I attended a Victorian Tea Outreach event, and since we were instructed to wear a hat, I decided to take out the Hat Boxes which contained my legacy from my maternal grandmother. Oma loved to wear hats, and would never have considered herself fully dressed without one! I had the incredible privilege of curling her hair for her every Saturday through my teen years, so I got to spend extra time with both her and my Opa. How I loved those times...time to talk, to learn how to speak a few words of Romanian, time to eat warm Apple Strudel, and sometimes time to model Oma's hats for both of them and make them laugh!

And so, when she died, I was given a selection of her hats, since I was the only one that would probably ever even wear one! So on this special Saturday, I got all dressed up, and topped it off with her beautiful black Fedora! Here's to you Oma!

All of my grandparents were amazing strong individuals who lost everything they had not once, but twice. First during WWII, and then again when they decided to immigrate to Canada. But before that, my grandmothers were the ones that had to keep the family together when my uncles and grandfathers were drafted at towards the end of the war. It was they who packed the wagons, and fled during the cold winter as the army moved westward. And it was they, at the end of the war, who waited for their men to come home. Some day I would love to write a book about these amazing women!

Which brings me to this next picture! Two more amazing women, my good friends, Jude and Deb, both grandmothers who invest hours into their grandchildren and have been great role models for me! Here's to you my friends! And to all the grandparents out there, hats off to you!