Grandpa John

I remember seeing the remains of a card game of solitaire on Grandpa's little desk in an extra room, laid out in front of an old radio. I imagined him playing cards as he sat and listened to the radio. And I chuckle at myself, how I sit and play solitaire, sometimes sitting on the floor while watching TV and sometimes the electronic game on my laptop. Same idea, relaxing and spending a little time just by oneself.

I remember Grandpa coming out to the farm to try to help Dad, being a little bored, I think, after he and Grandma moved to the city. He was used to farming all those years and now needed something to do that he was familiar with and something that was near and dear to him.

Grandma Anna

Grandma loved cooking for us after Church on Sunday. We called it "dinner" then, which is called 'lunch' by most people here in the East. She was known for her fried potatoes and apple pie. I also remember Grandma and Grandpa speaking German, sometimes, when Mom would look at Dad and wondered and wished they would get back to English. Grandma always had a funny way of saying my name. It sounded more like "Treeshaw." Mom hated that and wondered why she couldn't learn to say it right.

While visiting sometimes Grandma would have 'wrestling' on TV. She would sit there yelling at those strange looking men and hooting and hollerin', as she watched excitedly to see who was going to win. Grandma always wore dresses and house-dresses that went to her calf. Sometimes sitting there in her chair, we would see the top of her 'knee-high' nylons that looked like they were falling down. I always wondered why she wore those things. It was quite a bit different from watching Grandma Jennie, as Grandma Jennie was more "liberal" seemingly and was the first lady in our family to wear pants (slacks).

When Mom and Dad first got married, they lived with Grandma and Grandpa. Dad would be helping Grandpa in the field. Mom would ask Dad after they got back to the house if Grandpa was mad at Dad or something because he was always yelling. Dad's explanation was that the machinery was so loud, that they would not hear and so had to yell to communicate. Then there was Mom and Grandma cooking in the kitchen together, especially getting supper ready for Dad and Grandpa when they came in from chores. Mom learned how to cook and bake a lot of things that she and her own mother never did. Mom learned how to make those apple pies from Grandma, as well as German hot-dishes, salads and other meals.

Grandma and Grandpa attended the Lutheran Church in Red Wing, Minnesota. and eventually talked Dad into taking our family there. We tried other Lutheran Churches that were closer to where we lived. But we eventually became members of St. John's Lutheran Church where Grandma and Grandpa went. I remember sitting very near the back of the Church as Mom and Dad didn't want to disturb anyone else. We were always early too, very early. Seems like hours before the service started. At Easter time Mom, my sister and I wore Easter bonnets and pretty little dresses. Us kids were confirmed there and my sister and I started to teach Saturday school afterward. We stayed busy with that Church until we each got married and more involved in our own individual families, and/or moved away.

Grandpa and Grandma spoke German many times when we visited.  I remember it being frustrating for my mother.  Mom would say, "Ma, English, please."  When my sister and I learned German in Junior High, we tired talking with them.  They didn't understand us.  It turns out, their "Low German" was yet different from the "High German" that we were speaking.  They did appreciate when we sang Silent Night in German for them.  The key words were understood, obviously.

When Grandma passed, it was very hard for Grandpa, after all those years being married... being with someone all those years.  He passed a sort time after from heart-break.

Written in 2011