The Blessing and Legacy of My Grandparents

I have been very blessed by the legacy left to me by my four grandparents. They loved my parents, their spouses, their grandchildren and most importantly they loved God. They legacy of love they left for me touches and inspires me daily. I hope that I can make them proud with my life.

Howard Paul Key- My dad's dad. Grandpa Key died when I was young. My memories of him center on his country store, picking fruit of his trees, reading the Bible at his desk late at night, preaching at the country Church of Christ, and his trailer in the yard stuffed with his flea market treasures. He always had a next idea. A plan to move all of us onto his land so we could all be together. The thing that He left me that I aspire to was his Bible reading. How many times did he read through the Word of God? He must have known it in and out. I aspire to pour over the Scriptures like my Grandpa Key.

Richard Eugene Gwisdala- My mom's dad. Grandpa Gwisdala was a WWII Vet, POW, and a product of youth spent during the Great Depression. He read and stayed up on the news. He was always a student. His respect and love of history rubbed off on me through his stories. I love history because he did. He was so faithful. To God, to his wife, to his family. When my grandmother developed Alzheimer's and was in the nursing home all those years he went and feed her lunch everyday and visited. Even when she didn't know who he was. That is faithfulness. I hope I can be that faithful to Adam all my days. Grandpa Gwisdala was wise. He knew me better than I knew myself and his advice to a college student about career, marriage and family still resonate a decade later. He died just a month or so before I met Adam. He would definitely approve and would love pouring over the paper with Adam. I miss him everytime I see my Dad and Adam sitting at the table with the paper between them. I aspire to make him proud of my choices and to be as wise as him one day!

Patricia Bowler Gwisdala- My mom's mom. This amazing woman had four children in four years. Without disposable diapers, formula, two cars, playgroups, monitors, blogs, or instant access to adult conversation through technology. Three boys and my mom. With one boy and daily opportunities to get out of the house I can only admire her strength from afar. How amazing was she? Her life with those three boys were hard. But I don't ever remember hearing her complain. I remember her twinkling eyes and times playing all things girl with us. I remember her sweet relationship with my mom. I am saddened by the disease that stole her from me in the last several years of her life. And I hate that the memories of her vacant lost expression overpower all the others. But through her memory loss and confusion her faith in Christ remained and often she would reference the Bible and hymns when she could remember little else. I love that. I hope I cling to Christ the way she did! And everytime I feel my life as a mom and homemaker overwhelm me and close in I picture her in her kitchen coming up with a meal for her big family, the wash that must always have been needing down and I am humbled and blessed by her legacy of strength. I hope I don't let her down.

Bonnie Miller Key- My Dad's Mom. Granny is the image of my childhood. Her white (now yellow) house brings my favorite childhood memories of summers, swings, holidays, running around in the country with my cousins, making biscuits and cakes, playing games, fishing, exploring, and the freedom of youth. She was kind and patient. All the time. I never heard her loose it when hers boys were hungry and cranky. (Sorry but men get cranky when they are hungry!) She had a strong faith and love for Christ. She devoted herself to her family (husband, three sons, multiple grandchildren, her brothers and sisters and their offspring). She could cook something amazing out of vegetables and other supplies blindfolded. She was a wizard with a needle. She made amazing quilts and the smocked dresses of our childhood. She was quiet but her few words were meaningful and heavy. She took joy in the simplicity of family and love. I hope to grow in patience and kindness as I grow older.

My Granny passed away Sunday evening and I am procrastinating packing Noah and I up to head to Clay County to be with my arriving family members. I am just not ready to say goodbye to the last of my loving grandparents or to a woman who poured so much love and character into me. I feel like if I continue to stay here on my couch playing trains with Noah and catching up on the blog, I can put it off a little longer. I haven't yet begun to cry yet which is odd. Because we all know it doesn't take much.

But I feel the wall breaking down. How will I live up to these four? How will I honor them with my life now that they are all gone? How can I give Noah the things they gave me? How can I truly celebrate them and thank them for the things I didn't know I should have when they were still with me? I can picture my sweet Granny in the arms of her Savior and being reunited with her Howard who she never stopped missing all these years. And I am sure of this: These four people are in heaven. They love me. And I will see them there.