My grandma, Anna

I was sitting on a chair, elbows on the table with my face resting in my hands thinking... thinking... thinking....

If you looked at the table you'd see a butter dish, a serving dish with Trenary toast, a candy dish with lemon drops in it, a bottle of honey, the newspaper folded so that only the crossword puzzle was showing, two or three tea cups, and a paper with seven dash marks across the bottom of the paper with the typical hangman's gallow above it.  Sitting to my right was my Grandma.  I was nearly hung in this game and I was thinking....

My Grandma had offered me a clue... she said, "It's obvious."  So I kept thinking.... and she kept telling me, "it's obvious.  You should get it, it's so obvious."  I wasn't getting it until.... Oh!  Oh-the word was O-B-V-I-O-U-S.   My grandma just smiled and said, "I kept telling you it was obvious."  This was her subtle humor.

As a pre-teen, I was gangly, awkward, and self-consious in fact I was mercilessly teased about my looks.  Despite the fact I was lacking in the looks department, I wanted to be a model when I grew up, knowing full well that I would never be.  However, my grandma encouraged.  She opened her closet and asked for a modeling show.  My sisters and I would grab the stool and quickly climb to reach for her hat boxes, reach into the depts of her closets and come up with the most unusal and cute outfits.  We'd put them on and parade around the house.  The house was small, so our red carpet cat-walk was a simple circle that went from her bedroom, to the living room, to the dining, room, into the kitchen, and through the bathroom back into her bedroom.  My grandma would sit in her rocking chair in the dining room and watch as we passed by, and each time, she'd tell us how beautiful we were and what great outfits we had on.

Upstairs my grandma had a crawl space, she hid there once when we were playing hide-n-seek and scared my sister Diana.  Also upstairs, she had a poster that read "You know you're getting old when..."  the funniest saying to me was: "You know you're getting old when you go to wave and your under arm waves first."  Also, upstairs was a secret hiding place that our dad had built into the wall.  We had been told of this place for many years, but never knew where it was.  I don't recall the day we learned or even if it was our dad who showed us but... a secret was a secret.

There are so many stories one could tell about my Grandma Anna.  Her birthday is in December, she passed away while I was in graduate school 2002.  I miss her still today.  In fact, when I drink tea tonight it will be in her memory.

sugar bugs

What is it with sugar bugs and kids?

My nephew Garrett was sitting on my lap and pointing to varioius parts of my face.  This was the conversation:

Garrett: Is this your nose?
Me: Yes
Garrett: Is this your ear?
Me: Yes
Garrett: Is this your chin?
Me: Yes.
Garrett: Is this your mouth?
Me: Yes
Garrett: Is these your teeth?
Me: Yes
Garrett:  You have sugar bugs on them?
Me: I hope not.
Garrett: Yep, you do!

And then....

As a Speech Pathologist it isn't unusual to direct a student's attention to my mouth and specifically tell them to look inside to see what my tongue is doing to make the correct production of a sound.  Well... today, this is what happened in therapy...

Me: I asked a student to watch what my tongue does when I make the /sh/ sound. 
Student looking in my mouth: Oh- you have sugar bugs on your teeth. 
Me: No I don't think I do.
Student- Yes because you have a silver dot on your tooth! 

Kids they make you feel good about yourself.... I'm sure the dentist will appreciate it when I ask her to replace the silver filling with a white filling. 

Mom

Avis Mae (Jamison) Lampi is my mother.  She was born on November 4th in Milaca, MN to William and LaVon Jamison.  She was born the ninth child out of ten.  At 20 months of age LaVon, my mom's mom, passed away giving birth to their tenth child.

William remarried Marie.  Marie was a widowed mother of three.  Their combined families became a family of twelve.  And no I don't have the math wrong, my mom's brother Robert Paul died at a young age.  In the following years their family of twelve became a family of sixteen. 

My mom is a caregiver, this is evidenced not only by having taken care of her own children, but by her work as a physical thearpy assistant, and her willingness to take care of others who may be down on their luck or in difficult life situations, or simply, others she takes a liking to.

For example, my uncle had a daughter (who had been adopted due to his life circumstance)- that none of us knew about until we were older.  My mom was at work one day talking to a co-worker of hers and found out that this co-worker happened to be my dad's niece, April (this is her birth name not her adopted name).  That Christmas my mom made sure she had a little something from our family to let her know that even if we didn't know her, we'd be happy to welcome her into our family.  This is just one story of how she has taken others under her wing until they are ready to be on their own again. 

It isn't unusual for my mom to:
1) ask if there is a special dinner or meal that I'd like to have if I am going home to Michigan. 
2) bring me Trenary Toast from Michigan when she visits in Minnesota. Or-
3) during the Holidays to invite everyone and anyone who doesn't have family around to join in on our holiday happenings.

If you've ever tasted my baking--thank my mother for allowing me to mess up the kitchen at a very young age trying out my baking skills.  I got my love of Snicker bars (although I don't care much for chocolate) from my mother.

It was my mom's birthday on November 4th.  I didn't miss it.  I just didn't get around to writing until now.  Happy Birhtday, Mom!  I love you.