Thanksgiving and Memories Part 2

The first post was about my grandma Vina. This post is about my grandma Jacobs. I was close to my grandma. She was an amazing woman and I have so many memories of her when I was a kid. I don't think I have one major event in my life that she wasn't part of. She came to my school plays, church plays, 4-H and FFA events, high school graduation, college graduations. She even drove with me to my first job interview.

She was an amazing and inspirational person. We had many conversations about her life growing up and throughout all the stages of her life. She was a preacher's kid. Her dad was a Methodist preacher. Her best friend growing up was Helen and she looked just like her sister, Eunice.

Her sister Eunice and Grandma.

 She met my grandpa Glen when she was working in the shipyard during WWII. He wasn't a Christian and she wasn't going to date him till he believed. She raised seven kids and a few grandkids on a very small income. She outlived all of her husbands and always shared her love for the Lord. Later in life her best friend was Barbara and she loved to sing and mentor kids. She was always helping out or being involved in Church.  Dad and I often joked that when she moved to Arizona that the First Baptist Church might fall apart because she was so involved.

Grandma with her friend Barbara.

When I needed serious prayer for myself or a friend I would call her because she was a prayer warrior  She told the story that when she was a kid she didn't realize how poor they were because they lived on a farm and grew a lot of their own food. She also shared the story that  her and Helen visited some of the sailors from the docks (this was before the war) and they gave a couple guys an avocado. When they later asked about the avocado the sailors said they didn't really like it. When the girls asked how they ate it, the guys replied that they didn't know what it was so they boiled it!!! 

One of my best memories is that she would dress up as a clown for Halloween… She had the brightest red wig. Every Halloween Mom and Dad would take me into town and one of the first stops would be her house. It was the only time I ever went to the front door of her house. Usually I would ring the bell, she would come, I ‘d say trick or treat and then she’d give me candy and then open the door further for me to come in and my parents who would be down on the side walk would come up and we would stay for a few minutes before going to more houses. This one year, I rang the bell, said trick or treat and then waited for her to open the door, instead she closed it. So I had to ring the door bell again and tell her it was me. We got a good laugh out of that.

She also taught kindergarten at the First Baptist Church. I think it started in her home then as it grew she was able to move it to the church. I was fortunate to be part of her last class before she retired. Many of my classmates that I graduated high school with were in her class and so were some of their older siblings. As we grew up if any of her students from kindergarten or Awana’s made the paper (in a good way) she would cut it out and send it to us even when we were in college.

First Baptist Church AM Kindergarten Class 1979-1980

When we were in kindergarten she would reward students when they could county to 100. All the kids who accomplished that each week would be taken on Friday down to Sprouts Ritz to pick out a coloring book. It took me two weeks of trying to get my coloring book. When I knew I was going to earn it I had my parents take me there on Sunday so I could take my time picking out my book. I wanted it to be special and when I picked it on that Friday I cherished that coloring book for a couple years.  She also taught us our ABC’s and when the whole class could say them, we took a field trip to Tastee Treat to have ice cream.

 She built our spiritual foundation but for me and several others she also helped build our educational foundation. She gave me my first big kid Bible and I still have it.  When my cousins Travis and Jason and I were little we would take her towels and make capes so we could fly and fight the bad guys. She helped us put them on each time because she would safety pin them around our necks. I think she got tired of washing all her towels because she had capes and hats made for us. I found mine while searching for the Bible she gave me when I was writing my thoughts down for her memorial service.  We left our super hero days behind but not the lessons. She also helped me earn my FFA Jacket so I could participate and learn the skills that laid the foundation for my career today. She let me do chores and mow her lawn to earn money for my jacket. I think she was just as proud of my jacket as I was. 

She also was there as a surrogate mom for the mom weekends my sorority or college had and for my college graduations. She also sat with me during each of Dad’s surgeries so I wouldn't be alone. She filled in after mom was gone. She told me I drove too fast (which I do) and to stand up straight and several other things that parents and grandparents tell the kids so that they will grow up with manners and respect for others.

But like any grandparent/grandkid relationship there were somethings I just didn't share with my grandma. I had a boy roommate in college and she wasn't comfortable with it. She even had me look up Bible verses about it. I went ahead and roomed with him but we just chose not to talk about it. I also didn't tell her I had a tattoo but even with those disagreements on things I knew she still loved me. She loved all her kids and grandkids despite our disagreements.

Grandma with most of her kids and grandkids a few years ago.

As I have grown up, I realized that I was able to accomplish everything I have because she was there through it all cheering me on as she did with all her grandkids. We knew that if we messed up she would be disappointed in our actions but never in us. She loved all her grandkids and great grandkids the same it didn't matter if you came into her family through birth or marriage. She didn't have lots of material things but she was overflowing in what mattered… family and friends.  In my mind she is the Proverbs 31 woman.

She is clothed with strength and dignity;

   she can laugh at the days to come.
²⁶ She speaks with wisdom,
   and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
²⁷ She watches over the affairs of her household
   and does not eat the bread of idleness.
²⁸ Her children arise and call her blessed;
   her husband also, and he praises her:
²⁹ “Many women do noble things,
   but you surpass them all.”
³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
   but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
³¹ Give her the reward she has earned,
   and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.    
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

I know I will see her again one day because she was a believer and so my heart doesn't ache as much if I didn't have that hope but I still miss her. And now that she's gone I love spending time with my aunts and uncles when a few of them gather together so I can hear stories they tell when they are sharing their memories. 

Grandma, Grandpa Win, me and Dad