Saying Goodbye to Grandma Anne

Saying Goodbye to Grandma Anne
April 30

Anne Blank (Anna at birth, and called Annie by her family), was born on 1-21-21.  She married young, her sweetheart Lewis Blank.  They had two daughters, Karen and Linda.  I am lucky enough to be Karen's daughter and have Grandma Anne for a grandma!  Grandma was 92 years old when she passed, and outlived most of her family and friends.  She passed away on 1-23-13.  She adamantly told us time and time again that she did not want a funeral, so we respected her wishes and had a small family viewing and a quick gathering at the cemetery to say goodbye.  Lucas looked so handsome in his new outfit we found for the occasion, and was on his best behavior the whole day.  We started at the funeral home to see her one last time.  Then we went to the cemetery to make sure she made it safely to her final resting place.  We went to lunch together afterward to celebrate her life and tell stories about her.  I think she would have approved of the day we put together. 

 

My mom's cousin Arnold even came to the funeral home, he had seen the obituary in the paper.  He is my mom's dad's brother George's son.

 Cousin Tiffany and Lucas

 For some reason they immediately covered the casket with the black box and snapped it all on before I realized what was happening.  I stopped them at least so that we could take a few pictures and say a few words.  I read the "I am Free" poem and said a prayer.  I am still kicking myself for not telling them to take the box back off so we could get pictures with the beautiful casket.  I happened to snap one really quick before the box went on, and it is the only one I got.  My mom and aunt chose one with birds on it because she loved them so much.  She loved to watch the birds out her back window and always had a humming bird feeder out on her back porch.  Whenever she doodled she would draw birds.  It was perfect for her.

 James, Heather, Linda, Kristin, Karen, Ellen, Kay, Tiffany (Lucas is asleep in his car seat)

These are some things I will remember most about Grandma:

• Her delicious cooking, my favorite was her swiss steak.  I have tried to replicate her flavor, but her recipes are very vague.  She just threw in a little of this and a little of that, and everything turned out perfect.  Christmas will not be the same without her mini pizzas and turkey stuffing.
• Our slumber parties in the twin beds.  She let me stay up late and watch shows.  She liked sitcoms like me, and my parents never liked them.  I remember watching 227 and Golden Girls!
• Every year I would spend the night before the big hot air balloons came over the top of her house the next morning.
• She would always paint my nails when I asked and she had me put them in cold water to dry them faster.  She always got on my case for biting my nails, and I was jealous that hers were long and pretty.
• Wandering out in her big orchard, and looking down the well.
• The big orange tree and her delicious oranges.
• Our errands and trips to places like K-mart.  She loved a good deal!  She ended up with a lot of stuff from our house that we no longer wanted, but that she couldn't stand to get rid of because there was nothing wrong with it.
• Hot summer days playing in the kiddie pool and the bright yellow slip n slide.
• Croquet on her back lawn.
• We played a lot of games together.  Some of our favorites were Old Maid, Pick up Sticks, Cooties, and Checkers.
• Butter brickle ice cream.
• Overcoming her fear and flying for the first time for my wedding in Utah.  She said she never would, but she loved me enough to get on that airplane and be at my wedding.
• Lunch out with the girls every week during the summers when I was home from school.
• Our letters back and forth, we wrote for years, up until she couldn't anymore.
• I could do no wrong in her eyes.   She always made time for me, and made me feel special and important.  I will miss her very much!