GratiTuesday- Mrs. Edith Delaney, Grandma Retold

Tonight after visiting Grandma, I came home with wonderful new memories; my mom, Aunt Betty, and my cousin, Cindy, all were sharing memories and stories from the past, sometimes with tearful stories, and others with laugh out loud, cracking up stories. I did not want to leave tonight, and I honestly can't wait for tomorrow. I just wanted to kind of update my memories of Grandma below, though.

Today, I just have to say how grateful I am for Mrs. Edith Delaney, otherwise known as Grandma. She is some tough lady, let me tell you. She has always adored us kids, and we never had to ask twice for a story from Grandma because she had plenty to tell. This is an absolutely beautiful, remarkable womanwho has gone through so many dramatic events in her lifetime, from, early on as a girl, losing not only her father to a flu epidemic/pneumonia after a fire to losing her stepfather also to an aneurysm after a fall off of a silo, to living through the Great Depression with all of its financial obstacles, to living through the emotional turbulence of World War 2. Grandma had two brothers who served in the war, and she cherished every letter received from them, as evidenced by her saving every single letter and every single newspaper clipping she could get her hands on. She used to tell me a story about how when my mother was a baby, she carried her in a basket on the train to California. There was a young soldier who came up to her and looked at Mama in the basket and said, "That's the reason we fight; that's what we are fighting for right there." That story has stuck with me for life, and we still have that basket hanging in the cellar. She and Grandpa raised three beautiful daughters, and they worked their farm for many years, raising Jersey cattle, and then later on, Grandma raised Murray Grays. She was such a strong woman, so resourceful in so many ways....she was always working hard. Before she was ever married, she would get up at daybreak to milk the cows, and then she would walk all the way into town to her job, which she did not get off of until after dark. Then she'd walk all the way home again to milk the cows. After she married Grandpa, she took in laundry, as well as helped to keep the farm going. She took care of her mother up until it became too much on her, and when the love of her life, Grandpa Maynard Delaney, died of a brain tumor before I was even born, she took over the running of the farm. I remember one time when my mom had surgery, and I stayed with Grandma; she had to go get a cow in the old milkbarn and milk her and feed her, and I still remember Grandma dancing around the milkbarn singing an old song; I think it was DannyBoy or Old Dan Tucker or Oh, Susanna. She always had a little jig to do, and she always got me up dancing with her. Yes, my grandma is a one of a kind woman; from having us out helping her chase the cows or feed the cows to getting up at the break of dawn with her to exercise to the old PBS exercise show and then power walk up the gravel road, Grandma was always working, even in her later years when she inspected claims for the insurance company....oh, but she knew how to have fun too. She knew when it was time to go to town to the old Corner Cafe, where everyone knew her, for a hamburger or milkshake or when it was time to go berry picking or fishing in the pond, and she always had Easter baskets to hide amongst all her flowers for all the kids to find. In her later years, I still remember her sitting in her chair reading her Bible or reading the old Western stories she loved. She used to take us to the old homestead and cemeteries to relive our history, and you know, I didn't appreciate all of that then. As I grow older, though, I'm realizing how much I missed out on, how much I want to know now, and I'm so grateful for having known this strong, tough woman who is leaving behind both a strong, bold legacy, but a legacy filled with so many years of love.So, today, I'm thankful and grateful for my grandma, and after tonight, I feel like her story is just begging to be told, and I cannot wait to start this book. Who inspires you in your life, and who are you grateful for in your life?

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