Farewell Grandma

My Grandma Lichfield passed away this morning. She never woke up, which means she had a peaceful exit, of which I am grateful.

My grandma, Wilma, had 13 children, 9 boys and 4 girls. Now you can see why my brothers will at times call me "Little Wilma". Her oldest child was born MR, and since it was back in the 1950's, they put him in an institution when he was 6 years old, something she always expressed as being the hardest thing she ever had to do. My dad was the fourth child, and also the fourth son. Her sixth child, an infant son, died at just 7 days old, another tragedy I could not imagine going through. As you can imagine, having 13 children was not especially easy, nor was her life, but Grandma was always grateful and she felt everything was "just wonderful".
My grandma exemplified gratitude. She was grateful to everyone and for everything, and she went out of her way to express her feelings. She once wrote a letter to Kmart, expressing her thanks to them for the quality of one of their inexpensive shoes. On a flight, she gave a letter to the stewardess to give to the pilot. The pilot later said that in his 30 years of flying, he had never had someone hand write him a note thanking him for doing his job well. Her gratitude allowed her more happiness, her gratitude made it so that she thought the best of everyone around her, never complaining or spreading gossip about other people.

My grandparents with their four oldest, my dad in Grandma's arms

Grandma rarely thought of herself. She was always giving things to others. My dad tells stories of the few occasions she would have a chocolate bar (and she loved chocolate), instead of keeping it all for herself, she would break it up into many small pieces so that each of her children could have a part of her joy. Whenever she ate out at a restaurant, she would save her left-overs to share with someone that she loved. She was always mindful of other people. I often received letters from her with newspaper clippings or picture that she thought I would enjoy. I know that she did this with all of my cousins as well. She sent out many letters a week out to her family, loved ones, acquaintances, and businesses - each letter handwritten, personal and loving.

My grandma had a lot of sayings she used to say. One that I love and have absolutely adopted with being a mother is "Let contentment be". Having 13 kids, I am sure she used this one a lot, and she lived by it. She was always very happily content. Another saying of hers was "A little praise goes a long ways". My grandma gave acceptance to everyone, she would frequently express her approval in people she was with. As her grandchild I could do no wrong, and I am sure that it was the same way for her children.

My grandma was never known to be a great cook. She tried hard, but she was a very adventurous and the tastes usually didn't mesh well together. My grandma was just a creative individual. Even though it didn't work out too well in the kitchen, her creativity worked well in other ways. She played the piano and violin. She wrote music, wrote poetry, plays, and stories. She got many local awards for her creative works. She also made up games that she taught us grand-kids to play along with her.

I was always impressed with the details she remembered of my personal life. For someone to remember so many travail things in so many peoples' lives was amazing. But that is who she was, she validated people, she loved people, she thought of people first.
I am sad that we can no longer visit Grandma, but I am grateful that she gets to have a rest from her frail body and she gets to be with my grandpa and two of her sons.

I love you Grandma