Grandma Lynn

Dear you,

This week Jered, Nate, and I ventured over to Half Priced Books.  It was my first time, and it was magical.  I wanted to soak it all in and spend hours in the aisles.  Especially when I saw the Art section.

It wasn't even that the section was intensely extensive, or that I saw anything in particular that struck my fancy.  I just miss it.  I miss spending hours on a drawing.  I miss learning about the history.  I miss memorizing slides for class.  I miss improving.

I desperately need to get back to working on my technique, adding and changing mediums, growing my creativity, and learning to better capture likenesses.  I hate that I haven't done anything with it for so long when I love it so much.  I love challenging myself and finding out what I can do.

Well, Grandma Lynn is the one I have to thank for my love of art.  Whatever bit of talent I may have in it came from her.  Let me tell you a little more about Grandma Lynn today. (That's my mom's mom, in case you didn't know.)

My earliest memories of Grandma Lynn probably come from when I was about as old as Khloe is in the above picture.  She lived in an apartment in Peoria.  I don't remember anything about the outside, just the inside, and even that is one of those memories where you aren't sure if you're truly remembering or fabricating it from stories. 

I remember seeing tiny crystal figurines, playing with this thing that had hundreds of tiny magnetic, flat Mickey Mouse heads that you could mold into different shapes, the smell of Dial soap, the most delicious Disney Popsicles, the porcelain doll in the baby stroller, her green ring that I wore to my wedding, glossy white cat statues, playing dress up in her high heels, her Christmas tree, and I think, taking naps on her bed.

After she and Grandpa got their house in Peoria is when my first memories of playing with my cousins emerge.  I also remember that Grandma kept stocked up on Barbies for us, some were even from back when Mom and Aunt Bobbie were little.  She had a playroom just for us.  She had one of those white geese that people have on their porch sometimes, and she had all kinds of different outfits for it.  Katie and I thought it was the coolest thing ever, and Grandma always let us help change its clothes.

The house in Peoria is also the first place I remember painting with Grandma.  She would get little wooden painting projects for us kids to do.  Some of them are still shown off at Christmas time.  We painted bunnies for Easter, Christmas scenes, and all kinds of stuff.  One year, quite a while later, we painted tile coasters for Dad for Father's Day with her.  She pulled out wildlife pictures for us to use because she knows Dad loves hunting.

She does beautiful paintings on stepping stones for yards, and Christmas ornaments, and other things.  She would paint the same scene in the different seasons on stepping stones so that we could switch them out on our porch every few months.  Her landscape type paintings like those always turned out gorgeous.

I still have a little step stool that Grandma painted for me.  It has some of the dalmatians from 101 Dalmatians on it.  Over the last few years she's been doing more sewing projects, and a couple years ago, she gave us each a bunch of Christmas ornaments.  (I located those last night because I had forgotten where I put them to keep them from getting lost.  Now they are helping to make our tree more festive.)  My kitchen towels that have recipes embroidered on them were also a gift from her.

She has sparkling, ice blue eyes that she gave to Mom, who did not return the favor.  They looked beautiful with the teal outfit she wore to our wedding.  I also feel I need to point out that though the picture doesn't show it, Grandma had matching teal polish on her nails.  How awesome is that?

Grandma Lynn is incredibly supportive.  She encourages us in whatever we do, and she definitely has the gift of giving affirmation.  (Even this morning, I checked my Facebook and found a compliment from her.)  I don't think she ever misses an opportunity to tell us that she loves us, is proud of us, or that we're sweet or beautiful.  She's pretty kind to our egos.  She could sit and talk with us for hours if we had the time, and always laughs when we try to be say something funny.

Grandma Lynn planted and nurtured in me a love for old movies.  Thanks to her I love movies like Show Boat, the original Little Women, Oklahoma, The King and I, and of course, my very favorite, Meet Me in St. Louis.  She also let us watch the old Nick at Night shows when we would spend the night at her house-which was so exciting because we didn't have cable back then and she let us stay up late to watch them.  

I think she really loves children.  She has several great grandchildren now, and you can see that she loves watching them play.  She also talks about what we were like as little kids often.  She tells me how I sang when we were in the hospital after Katie was born, or how she used to tell me not to talk like a baby.  She remembers things about our outfits and toys we played with.

I know that Grandma Lynn will always be in my corner, rooting for me to succeed, and encouraging me and trying to boost my confidence every step of the way.  And I know that she loves me, and everyone in her family for that matter, more than she could ever say.  She has a big heart.  I don't know if there's anyone in the family who isn't greeted by her with a kiss on the cheek.

So what do you need to know about my Grandma Lynn?  You need to know that she loves.  She isn't one to hold back the loving, encouraging things that people need to hear.  You also need to know that she gave us, I would say especially my cousins and me, a load of cherished memories.  She is also the one I need to thank for many of my interests.  Without her, I don't know if I ever would have learned that I love art, and I probably wouldn't be singing along to Meet Me in St. Louis every chance I get.

I love you, Grandma.  Thanks for everything.

Aimee Lou