Grandma Joy

On Monday this week I was honored to speak at my sweet Grandma Joy's funeral.

The funeral was planned really well, thanks to my aunts, and ended up being so beautiful and happy. There was definitely a fun bright heavenly feel felt throughout the entire day. I loved being with my cousins, aunts and uncles - reminiscing about Grandma and celebrating the life she led.

Here is her obituary: Patricia Joy Whitney Orton

I'll probably post more about Monday later (because I can't stop thinking about it), but for now I thought I'd post the words I was able to share at her funeral.

Here they are:

A very vivid memory I will always have of my grandma, which I've had since I was a little girl, and a characteristic that I think most grandmas have, but my grandma had mastered with unmatched skill - was that she was always trying to 'fix me a bite to eat'.
Grandma Joy was deaf to the phrases "I'm not that hungry" or "I just ate". Even when I knew there was no getting out of eating and I'd say "okay, I'll have just a little something", she was pulling out all the fixings for a full course meal - complete with a bowl of sliced fruit, a drink from the back porch fridge and finished with an ice cream sandwich.
I don't think I ever left her house without eating, whether I wanted to or not.
A few weeks ago, at the early part of December, I stopped by my grandparents house to say hello and my Aunt Patty was there fixing dinner. So I joined my grandparents at their kitchen table. And while Patty finished up with the meatloaf and potatoes I silently remarked to myself of all the meals I must have eaten at that table.
One memory I have at that table was when the Randalls were up visiting - and all us cousins were playing together. Grandma had made soup for dinner, and her rule for the evening was we had to eat all our soup to be excused to go play again. Well, for one reason or another I couldn't finish my bowl. I tried to explain that to Grandma but she held firm to her rule. Pretty soon I was the only kid left at the table, alone with my Aunt Connie (who probably doesn't remember this). Staring sadly at my soup while the fun commenced without me I asked my Aunt Connie "why does she care if I eat all my soup?", and she replied "because she loves you and that's her way of showing it." And when Grandma wasn't looking Connie emptied my bowl into hers so I could join the cousins.
That memory delights me because that night a few weeks ago when I was visiting my much older grandma, Grandma said to Patty "I'm not that hungry". And Patty loaded her plate with meatloaf and potatoes. And as I helped my grandma finish her meatloaf when Patty wasn't looking, I thought "my how the tables of love have turned".
I came to the realization some time during high school that Grandma must be one of the most self-less people I know. Sure, I didn't understand some of the things she did (like making me finish that soup), but it was her way of telling me she loved me. I've composed a list of memories to share with you that make me smile most when I think of her and that are examples of her service to our family:

Grandma Joy

~ helping to pick cherries in her backyard

~ the smell of her laundry room, and a letter I'd given her hung on the wall

~ playing phase 10

~ rubber bands holding small boxes together in her kitchen and bathroom drawers

~ lessons on setting a proper table

~ boxes of twinkies

~ trips to the bakery outlet store

~ her whistling to get our attention

~ her, pulling us behind the pick-up on icy roads on the toboggan 'round her neighborhood

~ her delight when I played a song for her on the piano

~ hymn books being repaired by her on her kitchen counter

~ gorging myself on her hot dinner rolls with butter and jam

~ playing the dice game

~ her closet full of flip-flops of every size at the St. George condo

~ sleep overs with the cousins in her front room

~ day trips with the cousins - out to lunch, bridal veil falls, seven peaks or bowling

~ being sad when it was my turn to sit up front with Grandma because I'd rather be rolling around the back of the pick-up with everyone else

~ the green curtains with blue hippos she made for the play house

~ V8 juice in the back porch fridge

~ sandwiches made with both butter and mayo

~ being fascinated with her pillow with the hole in it to keep her hair-do did

~ cut up fruit in a bowl, usually cantaloupe, with toothpicks

~ pictures of myself mailed to me as postcards

~ her calls to see how I was doing, how's school? do I have any piano recitals coming up?

~ her coming on Christmas Day to see what Santa brought us

~ every time I left her house, her and Grandpa waving goodbye on the front porch

~ letters on my mission signed "you make us proud, love you lots and lots - G & G", with a lucky 2$ bill enclosed

I'm eternally grateful to my grandma for these memories, especially the ones that brought me closer to my cousins. I am grateful for her Christ-like example of love and service, and hope the tables of love keep turning as we follow in her footsteps.