Words That Stay With Us

If there is one thing that I believe in my heart of hearts about being a parent, it's that words stick with our children. Often the wrong words stay with them, but every once in awhile we get it right and our children truly hear us when we say they are smart, or funny, or beautiful. I always cringe inside when I hear a parent or grandparent tell their child that they are stupid, or fat, or lazy. Many people never get past the hurtful things said to them in their youth. I think that we just never take the time to really think about the things we say and how they may affect our children. I encourage us all to take the time to tell our children or those we care for how valuable they are, I don't think it can ever be said enough. My first story that I will share about my Grandmother Ralston is from one of my older sisters, and it shows me the value of her words.

One of my best memories of Grandma was when she made me a dress for my 8th grade Graduation. I still have the dress. She gave me a necklace to go with it. When I tried the dress and the necklace on she stood me in front of the full length mirror she had in her dinning room. As I looked in the mirror she told me one of the most important things for a young lady to know is that she is beautiful. i never forgot that.

 

Tomorrow my own son graduates from 8th grade. I will make sure to take the time to let him know how wonderful he is and how proud of him I am.

 

 

 

Missing Pieces

This year has brought to me a great deal of thoughts towards my family and what family means. It started with a comment I made about loving Irises which brought a comment from one of my older sisters about my grandmother loving Irises and growing them and even winning prizes for her Irises. Shortly after that my aunt whom I had never met contacted me on Facebook and sent me a package of the last project my grandmother was sewing before she passed away.

I never knew my father's mother, she died roughly a year before I was born. My father has spoken of her here and there over the years, but nothing of substance. My sisters who had the opportunity to know her up until their teens loved her dearly and often have told me what a huge impact she had on their lives.

This has led me here, to a blog about grandmothers and their impact on the lives of their grandchildren. We all have parents and of course for good or ill they help to mold us. But for so many people that I have spoken to, their grandparents have also had a huge impact on their lives and who they actually grew into as adults. So I plan to find out more about this woman, Ludmila Ralston (Holstein)  and share here as well as post memories regarding the grandmother that did help raise me, my mother's mother. I would love have others share their stories of their grandmothers as well. So often these women who baked cookies, or sewed us clothes, or taught us to garden have such a greater story to be told, I hope to tell some of them here.

My starting point is this:

 I know that my grandmother Ludmila was a poet, that she loved Irises, and taught at least one of my older sisters the value of not judging others, and was a seamstress of great talent.

My grandmother Barbara worked harder than anyone I know, she is why I love horses and can't resist a sick animal. She is strong and in my youth I took that strength as a coldness, only to realize that even if it wasn't show on the outside, there is a deep love and affection inside her that maybe she just doesn't always know how to show.

I hope to continue this blog and fill it with stories, pictures, projects and anything else I can find to be able to create and remember who these incredible women were and are. After all, someday I may be a grandmother...