Grandma

 A bag of rubber bands. Yes that is what I will remember my grandma by. You see my grandma was going green long before it was popular. She sorted her garbage according to what it could be used for, compost, recycling or things that had to be thrown out. She washed out plastic bags so they could be reused again. She saved pieces of paper from the mail or elsewhere. A lot of the paper we throw away is only printed on one side, so my grandma would cut them into note size portions and use them as scratch paper. Even her dirty dish water could be used to water the plants. And did you know the soap in the water also helps keep bugs away from your plants.  She wasn’t trying to save the environment. She wasn’t trying to join some “green is the new black” club. She just thought about things. Why throw away something that  still has value? Now don’t get me wrong, my grandma was not a hoarder. Quite the opposite actually. Everything had It’s place. She could tell you where anything was in her house, right down to which shelve, what side, and what’s in front of it.   She only kept things she could use or she would pass them on to someone else.  Everyday when the newspaper came she took off the rubber band and placed it in a sandwich bag until the bag was full. During one of our visits, my grandma gave me the bag full of ink stained rubber bands because she thought the kids and I might find them useful. I grinned as we drove home with the bag full of rubber bands, thinking about how many days it must have taken her to fill that bag. Much to my amazement we use those rubber bands often and I think about her every time. Thanks to my grandma’s frugality I will not have to buy rubber bands for a long time.  My grandma has always been a constant in my life. She has always opened up her home to our visits. She was a great listener, even into the night. When I say great listener I mean she really listened, cared, asked questions, and replied to our conversations.  During our visits I always looked forward to playing games. MY grandma loved to play games,  she was always up for any game. She loved strategy games and games of luck.  She did not just go through the motions to say she played a game, she always tried her best and was a great competitor. I am truly going to miss  these times.  Fortunately my grandma has passed down  the game playing gene, so I am going to keep on bugging my kids and husband to play and I would feel truly blessed if one day I am able to play games with my grandchildren. Speaking of grandchildren, my grandma was pleased to announce that she lived to see 31 great grandchildren born into her family. God has truly blessed her. I can’t even imagine one grandchild, let alone 31 great grandchildren. It’s amazing to me how God takes 2 people and turns them into eighty.  My grandma was a woman of faith. Some people constantly have their TV on for background noise, but in my grandma’s house it was the radio, always tuned to some Christian music station or to some preacher preaching. Some people remember the smell of their grand parents house. I will always remember this as the sound of my grandparents house.  She has always been a great example of a Christian woman, and I am proud to be called her granddaughter.  She was always faithful in remembering everyone’s birthday by  sending them a card. And inside the card was always the same message, “God loves you  my dear granddaughter and I do too,  Love Grandma”. So Grandma, for one last time I’d like to say to you. God loves you my dear grandmother and I do too, Love Katrina.