The Divorced Son: Part Five | Reflections

My grandmother, on my mother’s side, was a Saint.  Not that my grandmother on my father’s side wasn’t awesome as well, but this story is about Grandma Weber.  We will talk about Grandma Wolfe later on.  Grandma Weber was so tied to God, it is almost unbelievable.  She had joy that filled her cup and overflowed it into other people’s lives.  I remember when we first moved to town, we would go to church with my grandmother, but we got bored with it pretty fast.  None of us really felt what she did.  We were kinda wrapped up in our own sins, and we enjoyed them.  I feel like we looked at her like she was crazy. 

We would go over to their house and my brother and I would compete with sitting on the couch next to grandma first.  She would sit next to us and rub our back, it was soo comforting.  My grandfather was a tough man to deal with.  I feel it took her amazing faith to deal with him on a daily basis.  My grandmother was always there for us, even when he wasn’t. 

One memory is of how she would always take us to friends’ houses to swim during the summer.  She got to borrow their pools so we could have fun.  It is funny how my grandparents from both sides helped raise me for the better.  I don’t know why I was blessed with this lady as my grandmother.  We didn’t really treat her the best, and we barely understood her faith.  She was always joyous and fun-loving.  She always joked and laughed. 

Another memory of her is when she told us how you “kill them with kindness”.  When she worked at a bakery, she had this customer that was always grouchy.  My grandmother swore she was going to kill her with kindness.  So, she did.  Later on, that same lady would drop in and chat as a friend with my grandmother.  I know this is true because someone at her funeral actually confirmed it.  No one really wanted to speak at her funeral, you could tell they were scared to share, or maybe her memories were so cherished by them that they wanted to keep them.  I stood up and talked about how my grandma had two quotes “kill them with kindness” and “whatever”.  The “whatever” memory that I remember makes me smile to this day.  You couldn’t stop her spirit.  She was drinking at a party at my mom’s house and my mom was warning her to not drink too much. My mom can get on your case quite a bit.  I remember her being chastised by my mom, then turning to my wife and saying, “Hey Elizabeth” and then saluting, like my mom had been a commander-in-chief.  She cracked me up.

The other time she showed this spirit, was when my mom made her sell most of her extra clothes to the Hospice store.  A few days later she went down and bought most of them right back.  You go Grandma!

I believe Grandma Weber has looked down and blessed my nephew.  I used to ask her to watch over him, because his life was rough, just like mine.  He has become a very faithful young man, and I love that about him.  His Auntie, my wife, has always been there for him in faith.  I remember my grandmother always wishing that my uncle, her son, could find someone like Elizabeth.  I know people say that most people marry someone like their mom.  I think I married someone like my grandmother.  God bless her.

When I was older I asked her about how she became so faithful.  She told me that she had the pastor and another lady come over to her house.  They sat there and prayed for a long time, and my grandmother felt Jesus walk into the house and bless her.  She was born again in that moment, and her faith created the joy and love that was a basis for my own faith.  You can’t help following someone this great.  You always remember them and they always make you laugh when you look back.  I love you Grandma!

More in this series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

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