Grandma Joyce

How lucky can one person be???



















I’ve spent some time with Grandma Joyce all by myself the last couple of months. It has been like a vacation for me. She has really slowed down from her hundred miles an hour that she has run for the last 85 years; but she can still run small circles around most of us. If nothing else the stories she tells about her adventures through life as a wife and mother are enough to tire any normal woman out.


Last Wednesday I had Jury Duty and had to be there at 1:00 in the afternoon. The case was going to last 5 to 7 days. The judge said not to try to use the grandmother excuse to get out of jury duty. We are leaving for Ryan’s on Thursday. I feel a patriotic responsibility to serve so I would never use the grandmother card unless Lexie was calling. Well Lexie is calling, I told the judge, he had no choice, and he let me go.

I arrived at Grandma Joyce’s with 2 of our Rodger’s family Christmas projects. Grandma’s monitor stopped beeping. She had a new reason for living. She went to work and if she hadn’t had so many phone calls and so much company we would have gotten finished with the stockings. Nancy helped a bit. (We are really going to owe them when Crystal gets married.) I left the stockings and pillow cases at her insistence. She hasn’t been this happy in a long time. I may have to look for other projects for her.

I learned a few new things about Grandma during this visit. One is where Ryan gets his desire for long, long, long showers. Grandma told me she loves to get in the shower and stay there. She pays the bill so she can. I told her about Ryan and she said “You go Ryan.” . I made a late run to Sam’s Club Wednesday night for chocolate and we ate nuts and chocolate for dinner because we could
We called Dad/Richard and ask him to bring stuff we needed on Thursday. He was wonderful. He did. The garage door stopped working so we called Dad and he came on Friday (and brought stuff) and he and Uncle Alan worked on the garage door. Dad left and Uncle Alan finished up. Dad left at 3:30 to run an errand for Wendy and for a meeting at home Friday night. On Friday afternoon Grandma and I talked about needing my sewing machine to finish the stockings in just a couple of hours. Grandma laughed a mischievous laugh and said “Call Richard one more time and ask him to bring your machine in the morning and we could be done.” She was half kidding but would have loved it if I had. I didn’t. I came home on Friday night before she wore me out. Hopefully she is resting now.

Life is good.

I love Grandma Joyce's philosophy on life. She always wanted to make a lovely home for her husband and children and see her children grow in truth and righteousness. She has done a great job achieving her desires. She is a great Matriarch. Any of us would do well to pattern ourselves and our lives after her.