I just pulled out my old journal, and found this entry I wrote after I found out Grandma had passed away. I want to remember all the things in it so I'm putting it here. I still remember that Sunday morning and the shock that flooded my system when I read Dad's text. I still miss her and think of her often.
3/17/19- Sunday, 3:36 pm
This morning I woke up and the first thing I saw was a text Dad sent the family, saying that Grandma Mingledorff had passed away. Amber called me later today and said that I should write down my memories of her. So here are a few I can think of.
-I used to call her every Sunday and talk to her for a REALLY long time. (More on this in Around the Kitchen Table, Vol. III). I started doing that when I was still unmarried, but I can't remember if Mason and I had started dating yet. I do remember telling her about him though, and she gave me lots of advice. She was always cheerful and hilarious. [Edited to add: I called her every Sunday for months, until it was Christmas break one year and then I never started it up again in the new year. I thought about doing it and felt guilty for not calling her. Now I regret that I stopped calling.]
-I remember we went to visit her a lot on Sundays growing up. I always loved going. When I was little it was mostly her and Dad that would talk while the rest of us sat around on the couches and chairs and the piano bench. It was fun. When I got a little older I liked to participate more in the conversations that went on.
-I remember her teaching me piano. I don't think she taught me for very long before she retired, but i think i remember her putting pennies on the backs of my hands and telling me to just let my fingers do the work. I had to try to keep the pennies on my hands while I player her my songs.
-She let me put a sticker on a song when I passed it off, and sometimes she had the scratch and sniff ones, and I always thought those were cool.
-One time I got to go to her house for the day! I can't remember if Megan and Jenna were there or not. I had wanted to spend a day at her house with her for a LONG time, ever since Megan had done it a while earlier. I don't really remember a ton of what we did, but I think we did something with coins (maybe rolling them?) and she let me have a glass vase with blue smooth rock things all over it. I thought it was SO beautiful.
-I always loved Nanny's paintings that hang in her house. One of my favorites is the one with the giant vase with flowers in it and a tiny woman in a big dress next to it. Grandma told me that she used to have a little ceramic figurine just like the one in the picture. Nanny had given it to her. But then I think she let someone borrow it or something, and they had given it to someone else, and she had tried to track it down but neither of them had it, so it was just lost. Grandma looked kind of sad when she told me that story.
-She told me that the only people who get bored are boring people.
-I asked her once if Grandpa would ever get mad when their kids were growing up. She said he was kind of funny, because one time someone (I think it was Aunt Jenny) was learning to drive and scraped like the entire side of the car off. Grandpa didn't get mad at that. But she said, if he asked you to get a can of pineapple out of the pantry and you said you couldn't find it, then he would get kind of mad.
-Of course, the classic story of how she ran over the hog in Clyo. I have a video of that somewhere
-She used to say, "Gee whiz," "golly gee," and other stuff like that. Also "Pittsburgh's below Wheeling" (which means your slip is hanging out.)
-She always referred to her mom as Mother. I thought that was sweet. I guess I never heard her talk that much about her dad.
-She told me she met Grandpa because they had both signed up to go to a dance at her college (when Grandpa was in the army) and they had to put their heights on the list. Since they were both the tallest of the boys/girls (Grandma was an even 6 feet with her 1" heels on), they got assigned to be dates. When Grandma got home that night, she told her roommates, "I think I just met the man I'm going to marry" and they all freaked out.
-I used to be nervous to play songs for her on the piano, but when I finished playing she made me feel proud.
-At one of the fancy recitals when she was still my teacher, I was supposed to play Rondino and Pizza Man. We had to memorize the music. I messed up on Rondino, and I froze. I looked from where I was on stage out to the millions of people (or so it seemed) who were looking at me mess up. I can't remember if I kept playing it, all I remember is eventually I went back to my seat and Grandma came over hurriedly and said, "Brianna! You forgot your other song!" I had forgotten to play it! But by then, someone else had gotten up to play their stuff, so I didn't have to play it.
-Seeing her after my mission was the BEST.
-She LOVED Conference, especially Conference music. When I got to go to the Conference Center once, I sent her a picture of the inside and told her I wished she could see it.
-She was the best storyteller I've ever met. When she was a kid, other kids from the neighborhood would sit on the steps and ask her to tell them stories, and she would.
-We used to email back and forth my first year at BYU. It was fun.
-She was always cheerful. And always beautiful.
-We gave each other a hug and kiss every time we saw each other.
That's the end of my journal entry. To this day, I remember how Grandma made me feel. She made me feel so important. So interesting. When I talked to her, I had her undivided attention. She made me feel cherished and special. She is such a special lady. I miss her but am so grateful for her influence on my life. For her faith and her love and passion. I look forward to the day I see her again and get to give her a hug.
