Slice of Life - Day 23 - Oma Lou

In case this is your first time reading my slices, here is my focus for the challenge: my fifth graders and I are participating in the Slice of Life Challenge this month, and they're writing memoirs.  I thought I'd do the same kind of writing - memory writing - throughout the challenge. I'm going to be writing around photographs and memorabilia.

     This is one of my favorite pictures of  Grandpa and Grandma Deaver (my mom's parents).  It is 1960, and I love the way my grandpa is looking at Grandma.  So adoringly.  It's no wonder.  She was smart, independent, beautiful, and fun.  She managed to be no-nonsense and compassionate at the same time.  I loved her wit and sensibility.  My mom talks about how much she loved my dad, and he loved her.  When her great-grandchildren were born, we all started calling her Oma Lou.  She was a twin.  Her name was Lulu, and her sister's name was Lola.  Her friends called her Lou.  I love the stories my mom tells of her childhood - she felt like her parents were perfect.  I thought they were perfect, too.  I loved talking with Grandma.  She was a lifelong learner and was curious about everything.  She was ahead of her times - she was born in 1910, but she believed women should be what they wanted to be - all three of her daughters were educated and extremely intelligent.

     She was a wonderful grandmother.  This afghan she made was loved and passed down to my daughters, who kept it on their beds and brought it on vacations.  Grandma was a card player, so I played many hands of Gin Rummy with her.  We talked about books, politics, matters of the heart - everything.  She was energetic and had a great sense of humor.  That smile on her face was always there.  After my grandpa died, she moved in to a retirement community where she was happy and vibrant for many years. 

     Our whole family celebrated her 90th birthday in 2000.  What a memory that was!  Two short years later, she died of heart failure.  But that heart sure was full of life and love for 92 years, and we'll never forget her!