I was very fortunate to grow up with all four of my grandparents living and fairly close by. In Kindergarten I went to school in the morning where my Grandma Lehman was my teacher, and then took the bus to their house where Grandpa Lehman would watch me for the afternoon. In my totally biased opinion, I think this gave me a special bond with them, especially with my Grandpa Lehman. My Grandma Lehman died, quite unexpectedly when I was in high school and then my Grandpa Lehman died in 2004 while I home for the summer whilst working in Germany.
Since my dad's parents lived just down the road, we spent a lot of time there when I was young. They lived in a big farmhouse, so I remember playing in the barn, in the empty corn bins, the fish pond, and any kind of outdoor activity we could think of. There were also lots of fun toys to play with inside, and I particularly remember spending lots of time with my cousins playing with (and fighting over) the pretend money. Another fun memory was each summer when most of the family would gather together and do a big day of 'freezing corn'. The men would pick the sweet corn from the field and bring it up to the house. Boys would husk the corn. The women and girls would work in the kitchen to boil, cut, and bag it up. I remember being proud when I was old enough to be able to cut the corn on my own.
My mom's parents - Grandpa and Grandma LeVan lived about an hour away. We did go there are regularly as well and I have fun memories especially of riding on their homemade merry-go-round (yup, by grandpa actually made a merry-go-round, mostly with pieces from the dumpster)! But more of my memories of Grandma and Grandpa LeVan are from my adult life. Our boys both got to know Grandpa Ernie and Grandma Helen fairly well, despite the distance. They remember playing at the playground near their house and go for tractor rides with Grandpa Ernie. Clarence remembers Grandma Helen's famous apple dumplings, vegetable soup, and deviled eggs. We spent many hours sitting on their swing in the backyard and watching the trains go by. We would make predictions about how many cars would be on the train, and then count them as it went.
Grandpa Ernie died in the summer of 2014. We were in North America for the summer and were able to attend the memorial service. Grandma Helen passed away just last week and hers will be the first funeral that I won't be able to attend. I definitely feel sadness and even some confusiont about how to grieve from afar. It seems weird that the next time we go home we won't make our regular trip to West Manisfield to visit Grandma and Grandpa LeVan. Reflecting on this also makes me that so thankful my boys get to know their grandparents well, and we can stay easily stay in touch with them and talk to them regularly. Praise God for grandparents!
No trip to visit Grandma and Grandpa LeVan is complete with a tractor ride from Grandpa!
Ironically, Silas's onesie says, "Everything's Better At Grandma's". This picture was taken at Grandma's house, but he doesn't seem too happy!
Four generations on the backyard swing.
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