Love You Twice As Much

One of the things I think about time and again is that thing we learned in Sunday School years ago....they will know we are Christians by our love, by our love. How I hope people can just naturally assume that I am a Christian by the love I show for others. And, along those same lines...I hope that I can see Jesus in my own circle of family and friends. And, I was listening to a song about just that, it made me think of GG. I think that the best thing about grandparents is that they see Jesus in all of us. They see the best of us, the good things, and they get to really soak those moments up. As parents, you're so focused on the bad, you sometimes forget to see all the good. And, you have to actually work on correcting the bad. GG got to focus on the good in all of us, she got to see us at our best at holidays and birthdays and family gatherings. The unconditional love of a grandparent has to be comparable to the love of Jesus....takes us just as we are and loves us anyway. It's good to have that kind of love and we were blessed to have that from GG. If you get so lucky to have that person in your life whose eyes light up EVERY TIME they see you - that's hard to lose. And, well, that's probably what I'm going to miss the most - and miss for my kids. That life altering love.

Goodbye, GG

Joe's grandma, Doris Maude Naden Coppola, passed away on Monday, November 7th. She was 99 years old. I wanted to write a few words and memories about her....

• She was competitive.
• She never drank alcohol. She turned down my beer bread because it had beer in it.
• It also had butter in it. She does not eat butter.
• Peaches made her nauseous.
• She loved an extra cold glass of milk. But, only half full. 
• She loved vanilla shakes. I bought her a vanilla shake less than a month ago.
• She loved to read. I can't imagine the number of books she read in a lifetime. And, she remembered them too. When I read in Ely, I would take a book into her and ask if she read it and she could almost always tell me what it was about and if she liked it. The last book she gave me was a Mary Higgins Clark book and it sits in my nightstand. I don't think I'll take it out of there. Grandma always had a book on her nightstand, in her purse, on her lap. I loved that she loved to read.
• She once drove through ice, sleet and snow to get to Joe's basketball game at Luther. Bobbi and Joe stayed home but she made the trek by herself because she was mad they told her she couldn't go.
• She once went to Chicago for a softball tournament and slept in the car and in the hotel lobby until the team woke up....and somebody noticed that Doris was waiting in the lobby for the games to start. I think the lesson learned was not to underestimate Doris' will to attend athletic events, I guess!
• I played her in Scrabble once and Bobbi and Joe kept looking at me like "yeah, you should maybe just let her win..." and my Joe came over and told me it was time to stop playing as neither GG or myself were going to let the other win.
• She kept chocolate in her purse, or cookies wrapped in napkins. Dogs loved GG because she seemed to always have a treat, or an open purse.
• One time, my grandma Phyllis gave me money because I got a speeding ticket on the way to the softball game. Not to be outdone, GG told me she had money for me, too. I could totally tell she was competing with my grandma!
• She always came to the hospital to see the new babies, or was one of the first to see our new babies.
• She knew every grandchild by name, and likely what they were doing or what was new with them.
• She really never spoke an unkind word about any of the family members. She traveled from house to house for 40 years and literally, never had a mean word to say about any of them-- or she kept it to herself. That's something to be admired for.
• When Joe and his brothers were little, Bobbi told me she was a lot of help in those days with the kids...staying home with them, babysitting, helping with all the running around of young children.
• She might be the most photogenic person I know....her smile always looked good. There was always life to her photos....she just always looked good.
• She looked great in long flowing skirts, cardigans, and jewelry looked fabulous on her. She wore a lot of pins and long necklaces, and big things. She always, always matched perfectly. 
• I do remember her getting in a few fender benders on the road before her license was taken away. I remember feeling sad about that, because her car was her freedom. 
• She was strong willed...I would ask if she would need help walking or I would come help her, and she often brushed off my help. She could do it herself!!
• We took her to the boys basketball games a few times, but the last time was last January. She was so so proud of them. She couldn't have been happier to be there. It was a lot of work getting her in that crazy gym, and a ref stopped a game completely for me so I could get her though easier. She apparently bragged to some people about how good the boys were....At the end of the day, Joe and I were so grateful we took her. It wasn't easy but that meant so much to her. 
• She got pedicures and manicures and loved getting her hair cut and put in rollers. 
• She had a stocking for each one of us kids at Christmas- 96 stockings seems overwhelming to me but she did it! She did an ABC basket at every wedding and baby shower we had. She gave out a calendar to each kid as a gift at Christmas and was instrumental in helping the people who did the calendar for us all. She never missed a birthday or holiday for any of us. 
• She always hugged and said "love you twice as much" to all of us. The little kids would race to see who could say it first. 
• At the end...things just became harder for her. Breathing, chewing, eating...her body just gave up essentially. At 99 years old, God saw it was time to call her Home. We are comforted by the fact that she believed in her Savior, she knew where she was going, and the Psalms brought her peace in the final days. Joe and I both got to see her on Sunday night, and she passed away on Monday morning. We knew then that her time was very near, yet it was hard to believe it. GG was this person that you thought would live forever to be honest. It seemed surreal to think she could actually leave us.
• She left behind 96 total family members that included 5 kids, 5 spouses of kids, 36 grandkids, 45 great grandkids, 3 great great grandkids. Funny enough, when we did the math, there was 48 boys and 48 girls! 

Here are some of my favorite photos of GG!

It feels a bit like the end of an era. Love you twice as much, GG. 

(Please note all of her beautiful jewelry in each one of those photos, and how good she looked, and how she could literally wear ANY color and look good! : ) 

Love is in the air!

I know after you see these pictures, you'll say to yourself, "Boy, Holly's kids sure do spend a lot of time acting like superheroes." Yep, we do. We can't resist.

Cousin Davis, Uncle Kyle and Joey. Joey had a play date on Saturday morning with Davis and Aunt Kelly. Those two are easier to handle together than they are apart. They are buddies for life.
Great Grandma Doris and the boys. "GG" came over for supper. The boys like to steal her walker. When Maddox sees ANY older lady ANYWHERE with a cane, he yells, points and screams "GG! GG!" At random times, he'll look at me and say, "GG?" And, I'll have to say, "She's at Uncle Chuck's house." And, he'll go "Awww!" Like, "Dang- sure wish she could be here." He's got a little attachment to her that I adore.
April showers: we've had enough already. May flowers: you can't get here soon enough.