Grandma Lin

This past weekend I flew 'home' to Chicago and then on to Milwaukee to celebrate my sweet Grandma's life and homegoing.  She is finally singing at the feet of Jesus in the presence of her beloved husband.  Grandma Linnea (that's where my middle name Linae comes from!) lived a full life.  She was ready to go home and I'm thankful she's in the place she longed to go.  

Grandpa & Grandma were married for 73 years!!! Talk about a legacy of commitment!!

I love this picture.

At our wedding 9 years ago.

Grandma loving on Claire.

My grandma was the most quick-witted, hilarious woman!  She had the best sense of humor and was so quick with her responses, even in her old age.  She loved fancy things and finding bargains.  She was the best cook, and her Swedish meals were always a favorite part of spending Christmas together.  There are endless stories and quotes from this amazing woman, but one of my favorites is her line, "We ain't got much, but what we got is fancy."  She always served her food on beautiful dishes and water in gold goblets.  She loved glitzy clothes and sparkly jewelry. This next story was told twice at her memorial service but it goes down as a family favorite.  One time our family was not at home to answer the phone when Grandma & Grandpa called us.  They decided to leave a message on our answering machine (remember those??) and Grandpa started the message, "Hi!  This is Grandpa and Grandpa calling."  Without missing a beat, Grandma chimed in, "And this is Grandma and Grandma!"  They went on to argue about what Grandpa said on the answering machine and the message ended with both of them hanging up on each other.

I loved hearing every one's stories about Grandma at the service.  Grandma was the oldest of 11 children and when her mom got sick, she was forced to drop out of school at age 14 to take care of her family.  She had to do all the cooking for the men at her father's logging camp.  At age 14.. can you imagine?! After marrying my Grandpa, she began doing catering for fancy parties and affluent families in Chicago. Another one of my favorite stories I heard this weekend was when my uncle shared that after growing up in his family of non-drinkers, as an adult he brought this up to Grandma.  He told his reasons for thinking maybe it was okay to drink alcohol and reminded her that even Jesus drank wine.  My Grandma's response, "That was the only thing I didn't like about him!"

 I realized that in addition to her spunky spirit and her commitment to her Savior and her family, the thing I loved most about my Grandma is how strong of a woman she was.  She was a strong woman before it was cool to be a strong woman.  Before women were on a mission to prove themselves and when women were still told to be the quiet, unopinionated  gender. She pushed the boundaries a little bit and I think that's kind of cool.  Especially because she was still a god-fearing, Christian woman.  But a strong, spunky one at that!

I love you, Grandma Linnea, and am thankful for the legacy you left.  Thank you for loving Jesus, your husband, and your family.  I miss you and your hearty laugh.  But I know you are finally at home and at peace, worshipping the One who made you!  xoxo