Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Grandma Jennie

We had important visitors to our side of the mountain last week. My Grandma Jennie, accompanied by my parents, flew to Denver to visit her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. We were thankful that, at 93 years old, Grandma was healthy enough to make the trip and to enjoy it!

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While talking with Grandma, she told me some stories from her life that I had not heard before. As she watched Elijah (2 weeks older than Logan) looking at a book, she commented that she had not had so many books as a young girl. She remembered aloud that she had come down with Scarlet Fever at the tender age of five, and that, sadly, one of the possessions that was burned to rid the house of germs was her family's Bible storybook.

I asked Grandma specifically to tell some stories from her days as a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse. She recalled riding on horseback to school and the time her father admonished her not to ride so fast after the neighbors reported that they feared for her life. She slowed down.

After she agreed to teach, she heard the tale of the previous teacher whom the eighth graders locked in the coat closet all afternoon one day. She had to be strict from day one with her students. One eighth grade boy decided to challenge her when she told him to stop misbehaving. "Are you big enough to make me?" he sassed.

She replied, "No, but I think you are big enough to do the right thing."

He stopped.

Grandma mused on the fact that she had a limited time each day to work with each grade. It impressed me to realize how much independent work her students were expected and able to do.

Please visit Sophie's Side and The Far Side to read the kids' posts about their week with family.

I'll post more pictures and stories later...


5 comments:

Gayle @ thewestiecrew said...

How interesting! I love to sit and listen to older people tell of their lives. What a blessed opportunity you had...:)

Dy said...

She is a beautiful lady, and it sounds like she was a phenomenal teacher. Don't you absolutely cherish the time we can spend with them, hearing their stories, gleaning from their wisdom?

Thank you for sharing that with us. I'll have to go read the kids' stories tonight, when it's quiet again. (My quiet times are shortlived.)

Dy

Anonymous said...

what a beautiful woman! and what a treasure of stories. i liked the ones you re-told. I imagine she has seen an incredible amount of changes during her lifetime

lynardlynard said...

These are precious times. I love the stories. I wrote quite a few down like this with my grandma by my side. I wish I had gleaned more before she passed. You are blessed to enjoy her.

|||||| lynard

Anonymous said...

I love your grandma. I admire Aunt Jennie a great deal. I love the stories and am always trying to pry more out of her and Grandpa. There's a story about Grandpa, Lloyd, Jennie, and a goat that I need to get written down. These stories need to be preserved. I'm so glad she was able to visit you.