Grandma Konken

There are many things that I never knew about my grandma until this weekend. I never knew that she worked at the Stout Post Office, grocery store, and several other jobs in Stout. I never knew her middle name (Arlene). I never knew how adorably in love she was with her "honey" through the ages. I certainly never knew how prolifically she wrote in journals. This, out of all the new things I learned about my grandma, was one of the most touching to me...as I sit down to write in my own journal of little thoughts. She wrote about the weather, about who visited when, about what she cleaned or took care of around the house. But every once in a while, a story would grace the pages of her journals, a story of a trip her and Grandpa took together, or a poem that she jotted down, or a prayer. 

A few years back, I gave her a journal for Christmas, not recognizing the significance of the gift at the time. And although she only wrote a few pages over the years, she wrote them to my brother and me. Her thoughts wandered from the events of each day to stories of when we were little to stories of when she was little. Perhaps it is true that the apples and grand-apples don't fall all that far from the tree. 

But there were several things that I was pretty sure of when it came to my grandma. I'm pretty sure she used to curse at me in German. I don't recall her ever once cursing in English, but there's one German word I recall from childhood that I am quite sure she only used in frustration or in jest. I'm sure she was a woman that knew how to speak her mind. She was not a wall flower or a push over. If she had something to say, well, she just said it. 

And I know fore sure that she knew something that perhaps we, as her decedents, may only be slightly aware of now. She knew that food was something much more than what we eat. It is somehow a small window into peoples' lives. In fact, I'm quite sure that she knew that by feeding peoples' stomachs, she could also feed their souls. Sunday lunches after church were never just an excuse to eat. They were special family moments that are now ingrained into each of our hearts. The recipes she made are each tied to memories that we all made together. 

So, today, as we all reminisce about the broccoli-ham casserole, pea soup, and custard in the fancy dishes, we're really thinking of the funny or matter-of-fact things Grandma said, the memories we all made, the strength that lies in family, and how very much each of us were loved...something she never let us forget.