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Happy Birthday Grammy!!

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Today is my Grammy’s Birthday. She and my Grampy have 11 children, my mother being the oldest. They are all wonderful. I feel so blessed to be part of this crazy, loving, giant, loving, fabulous, and loving family.

One of Grammy’s amazing daughters, my Aunt Jeannie, wrote this little tribute to her on Facebook today, and I just had to share it with you. *With Jeannie’s permission, of course.

Lessons learned while doing life with my Mom

I’m 4 years old I think, sitting in my very own little rocking chair in our house on Mason Street. Mom tells us, ‘Look, it’s snowing out!’ It was the first snow of the season, and it wasn’t heavy and it probably didn’t stick for more than an hour or so, but it was all I needed! I moved my chair so I could look out the window. I resumed rocking, of course. After all I am always rocking; and I started singing. What was I singing, you wonder? Jingle Bells of course. I was getting ready for Christmas!

One day as I was rocking and singing, in my own little world, my family was all getting ready to go visiting. Everyone piled into the car and Dad started ‘Roll Call’ as he was driving off.

“Florrie?” “Here.” “Joanne?” “Here.”
“Johnny?” “Here.” “Jeannie?”
“Jeannie?” “Jeannie?” No answer from Jeannie. Dad turned the car around and Mom came into the house only to find me sitting in my rocking chair, sucking my thumb. Totally oblivious to the fact I was almost left behind.

I took a couple lessons with me on that one. First, it is ok to sit and rock and sing (but not suck your thumb) and just enjoy some alone time, but you should always be aware of what is going on around you. Second, I learned it’s a good idea to make sure you have everything before you get too far from home. I’m glad my parents did!

A couple years later, we were living in a first floor apartment on Grant St. One day Mom was cleaning up in the bathroom and I was thirsty so I asked her for a drink of water. She graciously obliged and proceeded to get
me a drink from the bathroom sink in one of the paper cups we kept there. I took a big sip and was surprised. The water was HOT! I said, “Mom, you gave me hot water!” She smacked her head with her hand and said, “My goodness! I must have lost my head!” Well, my little sister Diane was standing in the hallway taking this all in and she proceeded to go from room to room, looking under beds and behind furniture for a few minutes. Then she came back, pointed to Mom and said, “No you didn’t Mommy! It’s right there on your shoulders!” Mom and I both got a good laugh out of that one.

The lessons I got from that incident? Watch what you say around little children, they will likely take it literally. Also, it’s pretty certain if you’re losing your head over something, your children WILL be there
to save the day.

One day I was a teenager hanging out in my room with a couple friends, listening to music and having a fun time, when I heard my Mom calling me from downstairs. Now I’m not proud of what happened next, but I started mocking my Mom in front of my friends. I was saying, “Jeannie wash the dishes, Jeannie sweep the floor, fold the laundry … do this, do that … blah, blah, blah.” Well, Mom was on her way upstairs to ask me if my friends wanted to stay for dinner! She heard every word I said. Needless to say, she did NOT invite my friends to stay. Instead they
were asked to leave, and I was in trouble!

I love the lesson I learned from this incident. Never assume you know what someone is going to say. Just because many times you are being told to help out around the house or do some chore, there is also a chance someone wants to do something nice for you. I used this with my boys many times. Of course I learned the hard way, but I wanted them to WANT to come when I called. So I told them, “When I call you, come. Sometimes I will be telling you to do some chore or something. Other times, I may be giving you a $5.00 bill, or offering to take you out for ice-cream. It even worked sometimes!

Well, those are just a few memories and lessons I learned growing up with my Mom. The best thing she ever taught me, and all 11 of her children, is to love family. She taught us that our sisters and brothers will always be important people in our lives. Not only did she teach us that, but she lives that. It is evident in the relationship she has with her sisters.

Thanks, Mom. Thanks for everything. Thank You God for such a blessing.

Grammy-Grampy-and-their-11-kidsPin
My Grandparents and their 11 kids. Jeannie is the one in the blue tank top in the middle row.

Jessie-At-Home

©Copyright 2014 Jessie Rayot / Jessie At Home All my videos, patterns and posts are my own work. Do not copy them in any way. If you want to share this information with someone, share the link to this post. If you want to share on your own blog / website, then you may use the first photo in this post and link back to this post. You may not give away printed copies of this post. Thank you.

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