For those of you that don't know, my grandmother passed away at the beginning of July. My grandma taught me so many things, and I wanted those around me to know how much she meant to me. Thus, this is the speech I said at her funeral.
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Good afternoon! For those of you that don’t know me, I am Kaylyn, Dorothy’s first grandchild. Grandma’s are kind of like mommies with frosting, and just imagine all the different kinds of frosting's there are in the world. Between chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, butter pecan, lemon meringue, cream cheese, and whipped cream. Except Grandma’s ‘type’ of frosting was different. She topped the cupcake with kindness, value, acceptance, supportive, joy, patience, warmth, memories, commitment, and love.
My grandma was the kind of women who had an enormous heart for just about everybody. She was always making sure that me and my siblings were well taken care of. Not only did she care for the five of us, but she took care of others as well. I will never forget when my family and my grandma and grandpa went out to breakfast after church one morning. All of us were walking into the restaurant, when a very elderly woman was having trouble getting out of her car. My grandma opened the lady’s car door open for her and helped her out. I was probably around eight or nine when that happened, but I remember it like it was yesterday. I learned how to love and care for others through my Grandma Dorothy.
From a very young age, I looked up to my grandma. She was always making time for me, and having “big girl” conversations with me. I would sometimes make up excuses to go to my grandparents house, just so I could talk to my grandma. No offense grandpa, but sometimes I would deliberately not finish my math just so I could talk to grandma about my school day. I would talk to her about school, boys, sports, boys, cooking, driving, dances, boys, friends, hobbies of mine, and boys. :) Not only would she listen to me talk, but she gave me her strong opinions and advice. At the time I may not have liked what she had to say, but looking back I hold every piece of advice she gave me close to my heart.
When my siblings and I were children, we would play downstairs in our grandparent’s basement. Usually, the game was school or house. I was always the teacher or the mother, seeing as though I am the oldest.
Grandma would come down occasionally and she would always say things like, “Kay, you would be such a good teacher” or “You should look into being a teacher Kaylyn, I know you would do very well.” From then on the career idea of being a teacher stuck with me all throughout grade school, middle school, and high school. I would say that my grandma is one of the reasons why I want to be a teacher. She was always encouraging me to do my best in school, and her constant belief in me really boosted my confidence. I wish she could see me now in college, majoring in Secondary Education - English and minoring in youth ministry. I wish I could tell her everything that I am doing in college to prepare myself to be a future teacher. I always wanted to make her proud.
One of my favorite things to do with my grandma was shopping. Not because she paid for all of my clothes or picked out turtlenecks that I never wore. And not even when she bought me lunch afterward, cause let’s be honest food is amazing! But because she made me feel pretty. She made me feel like a princess, even in brown poncho pants and forest green Crocs. My grandma Dorothy guided me towards my sense of confidence and showed me how to love myself. She made me want to show others their beauty from within.
Then there are random little things that I remember like when my grandma helped me sow my first pillow, or when she showed me how to flip a pancake, and how she let me play with her short hair and put little clips in it. She read me bedtime stories when my siblings and I would spend the night, she tucked us in, and made us all feel safe. And, grandma made fun of grandpa’s snoring with us and she promised to make sure their bedroom door was closed. And then one day when my sister Taryn and I were at our grandparents house, it was down pouring outside. My sister and I stared out the deck window as the rain came down, and my grandma came up from behind us and asked, “Do you want to go play in the rain?” grandma let Taryn and I wear her clothes in the rain as we danced on the back deck.
Not only was she fun, but she was constantly supporting my siblings and I. Grandma Dorothy came to all of our basketball, softball, football, track and field games. Rain or shine her and grandpa were almost always sitting in the stands. She brought me flowers for every single play I performed in, and she smiled the biggest when I looked over at her. Then at Christmas time we always watched ‘Miracle on 34th Street.’ And, of course, hot chocolate and pink snowballs were provided, because pink snowballs were one of her favorite sweets. Oh my, and don’t let me forget every time we came over for breakfast strawberry toaster strudels and cinnamon rolls were always an opinion!
Out of everything I remember, she kept me accountable in my relationship with God. When I was in fourth grade, I had just finished one of my girl scout meetings and grandma picked me up from the meeting. The night before it had snowed a lot, because there was at least ten inches of snow on the ground.
Grandma parked the car in the driveway when we got back to her and grandpa’s house. We both got out and looked at the snow that was piled on top of the grass. I kicked the rock solid snow with my boot, and said, “OH MY GOD!” grandma then stood there in front of me, in the freezing cold weather and started explaining to me how I should never use the Lord’s name in vain. And trust me, from that day on I was more mindful of my tongue.
Grandma held my hand as I grew up, but she will hold my heart forever. Losing my grandma to Alzheimer's was a very scary and emotional experience. I am always going to miss who she was, but I will forever remember her true self, and who she helped me become.
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This is for you Grandma Dorothy...
With Love,
Kaylyn
