Gramps

These pictures were taken last June when we went to visit my grandparents in Sunflower, AZ.

Last Friday my Grandpa Christensen--Gramps--passed away. Gramps was a positive, happy, and friendly person. He knew how to bring a smile to someone's face--especially if that person was a little kid. He was well-known for his one-liners. At his 80th birthday celebration his children passed out papers with maybe a hundred or two of his classic one-liners or "Albert-isms." We went to visit my grandparents a few years ago and noticed gramps had a black eye. Mark joked something about "What did the other guy look like?" And gramps replied with, "No, I'm a lover, not a fighter." He says it jokingly, but it's true. Gramps crocheted beanies for the Church Humanitarian Center and for his grandkids and great grandkids. The day after he passed away Mark and I took the kids to the snow. It wasn't until we got there that I noticed we were nearly all wearing the beanies gramps had made for us and I had to smile thinking of an old man who crocheted hundreds and hundreds of beanies.

For a couple of years Mark and I have been talking about doing some video interviews of our grandparents. Long ago we sketched out some questions but we never got around to doing the interviews. In December of last year we started talking about it again and I began to get kind of antsy thinking about how we hadn't done this yet. I listened to the Mormon Channel (Latter-Day Saint online radio) one Sunday and the speakers were talking about living history videos. At the time I felt like the Spirit was pressing me to get these videos started, but even though I knew I needed to listen, I still wanted to be wrong that there was a reason we needed to videotape our grandparents soon. So, just before Christmas, amid the chaos and craziness that is that time of year I went with my brother to Gramps and Grams' home to videotape them talking about their lives. I learned so much about each of them and am so, so, grateful that we went and did that.

My gramps lived a hard life as a kid. When he was eight his father died leaving the poor family (his mom with six kids) even more poor. He told us about not having running water and trying to dig a well by hand to have fresh water by the house. They finally reached water only to discover it was salt water. Much later, the brothers were able to save the money to have a well drilled deeper than the first. The deeper well reached fresh water, but the family didn't have the money to put a pump on it. As time went on and enough money was raised to be able to afford a pump, they found the salt water had leached down into the fresh water and spoiled their well.

As gramps talked about having to leave school before graduating to support his family it seemed like there might have been a little embarrassment that he never finished. After the interview was over I thought about how my gramps had a hard life and he sacrificied and worked incredibly hard so that his children would have a better life. His children did the same for their children and that is why my life today is really so easy. Many of the blessings I have are because of him and others who have come before me and have made the real sacrifices. I wanted to tell gramps that but I was a little shy about saying so. When I visited him in the Hospice Center last week I gave him a hug before I left the room. I thought to myself it likely was the last time I would see gramps alive in this life. I wanted to tell him then that I was grateful for all that he had sacrificed, but I was too embarrassed about the other people in the room. But haven't I already learned not to care about what other people think? I am so grateful that since my grandparents have lived in Mesa these last several years I have been able to spend much more time with them and I am grateful that I am not looking back wishing I would have done better about visiting with them and seeing them. And mostly I am grateful for listening to that voice that told me to interview my grandparents. Two weeks after that interview my grandfather got very sick and never recovered. Thank you Gramps, hope you know how much you mean to me.