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grandma flo.

it has been almost a week since she passed away, and i still don't really feel like sitting down and writing about it...but i don't trust my memory, and there are things that she said that i want to write down before i forget. it seems i have a very good memory when it comes to useless information, and it all goes to shit when there's something that matters.

i should feel lucky, because it all happened so fast....even faster than with my grandpa. i was pregnant with thelma when he died. so, here i am again....pregnant, and dealing with the loss of another.

my grandma was second to oldest of 11, and the first one to die. all of her brothers and sisters were in lima, wis. for the funeral on tuesday. she gave birth to 10 children, and is survived by 26 grandchildren, 31 2/3 great-grandchildren, and 6 great-great grandchildren. her cup was always over-flowing.

she was 16 when she met my grandpa and got pregnant. that's why they "had" to get married. didn't keep her from being married 66 years and it certainly didn't keep her from getting into heaven. her first and fifth children share the same birthday. they are exactly 5 years apart. she was busy. there's one particular picture of she and grandpa and those first 5 sitting out in the yard that i stared at for a really long time on monday night. she would have been 22 and he, 29. she looks 22....so SO young. and breath-takingly beautiful, surrounded by all those little ones. those were the days when they were still working the family farm in lima, before they sold it and moved to the house in town at 619 W Prospect St. (incidentally, that house is for sale right now...for $94,000. seems a small price to pay for the house my dad grew up in.)

i think she stopped cooking once all the kids were grown up and moved out of the house. i only remember being at her house one time when she was using the stove, and she was cooking liver and onions. i was probably around 10. her oven has since served as storage for paper plates, extra napkins, and whatever else she couldn't find a place for in the cupboards. the microwave served a similar function.

she saved everything...and knew just where everything came from and why she was saving it. (i inherited this from her, much to my mom's dismay. i used to save gum wrappers when i was a kid because they smelled good and i might want to re-live that smell later, after the gum was long gone.) a box of things she had set aside for my dad had two such peculiarities inside it. one was a tiny brochure boasting the incredible results of oil of olay beauty solution that i would guess dated back to at least the 1960's. the other was a tiny newspaper clipping giving women advice on how to tone up their lower abdomen after the birth of a child.

my grandma had this amazing way of journaling, a system of record-keeping that not too many families would be so lucky to have. she wrote all over everything....calenders, books, cards, boxes. if you were to go through the piles of things at her house right now, you would be able to learn anything you possibly needed to know about the Brunner family. as an example, i'm going to use a toy that she passed on to thelma the last time we were at her house...i think it was in the fall after we finished raking her yard. its one of those little playskool wagons that has blocks of all different shapes, sizes and colors that fit inside it. what i can make out to be the first note on its original box says "Purchased Christmas of 1965, when at 619 W. Prospect". "Please do not give the box to the child!" on one end..."OPen Here". the other end is taped shut and says "I taped shut". "12/1987 Please Adults take out the wagon and give to child." "p.s. This box keeps wagon and blocks together (no blocks lost to date)" "Nov. '92 all pcs. still here" "We got these for grand kids at christmas 1965 at 619 W. Prospect, Durand, Wi." "2006-1965=41 years. Oct. all pcs. here yet." this is just what's on a box of blocks, people.

i got to visit her last wednesday. i was lucky that she was still somewhat alert when i arrived at the hospital. i took her hand in mine and told her i was there. she opened her eyes and said, "i love you so much. i've been waiting for you." her sons and daughters happened to be holding a family meeting to decide what to do next, so i got to sit and hold her hand and be still. it didn't seem to matter so much that we were sitting in a hospital room...it was peaceful. i will forever cherish the memory of her...Florence M. K. Brunner.