A Grand Lady

This week has been a week of reflection and remembering. I am meditating and have many quiet moments thinking about my grandmother.


My grandmother has Alzheimer's and can't take care of herself so she lives at this amazing place where they help take care of her and specialize in patients with this strange disease. Her home is called MacKenzie Place and it is in Fort Collins, CO. They do so much more for her than any of us could in her condition.

She fell last week at her home. Later in the week it was brought to someone's attention that she needed some help. My dad went over and they decided that she needed to get to the hospital. At the hospital it was found that she had some severed vertebrae. She must have hurt her back when she fell down earlier in the week. She was in an extreme amount of pain. They were going to have back surgery to put some cement in her spine to help somehow with the pain. They ran a lot of tests before the surgery to get her ready. During the tests they found out she has CANCER. (sigh) Cancer of the spine and that it has possibly already spread up in her brain. They gave her 2 weeks - 2 months left to live. She is back at MacKenzie place and in hospice care but still in a great deal of pain.



This is a tribute to her. A collection of some great memories we have shared.





Her name is Norma June Thompson. (Jessie Mork wanted to name her Norma Jean but her cousin was born a few months before her and took the name - no relation to 'Marilyn'). My grandmother was married to my stubborn but lovable grandfather Wayne Merle Thompson. Both of them being 100 % Norwegians brought a lot of the Norwegian culture into our lives. My whole family has been to Norway numerous times and my younger sister even decided to take Norwegian classes in college.

She was a hard worker and this came from her farm days. My great grandparents had a farm and so to did Wayne and Norma. She worked on that farm for many years. She did things there I can't even imagine. She worked long hours and didn't want it any different. Even after the farm was gone she still worked hard. She was not one to just sit around and watch TV. No, my grandmother was always cooking, gardening, or cleaning. They would grow things, like apples, and then make 40 pies all in one day! She believed in the value of preserving , canning, and saving your food.

My love of travel comes from my grandparents as well. So many memories are of the trips we all took (too many to write about them all). They went overseas to our family Mork farm in Norway and were so proud. She still talks about the Mork Fjord and farm even in her lost mind of Alzheimer's. My grandparents also had a camper or motor home as long as I can remember. We would meet them up at Cedar lake and fish and ski as children all summer long. After the early risers caught the fish, my grandmother would have a fish fry and make sure that everyone had their fill. There was always a quarter for us grandkids anytime we asked to go buy a sweet treat or ice cream. They would take us grand kids away on camping road trips to give our parents a break in the summers.

I think the motor home is also where I learned to play 500. This is a card game that everyone in our family knows how to play. Four play at a time but sometimes so many want to play that we have multiple tables going at once. She would play some gutsy hands back in the day.

She has a generous heart, a giving soul. She is a strong Christian and was always active and volunteering at the church. She poured herself into helping out anytime she could. Grandma led different women's groups and hardly said no when asked to help. (smile) Just thinking of sitting in the pew with my grandma listening to her sing her hymns. She has the sweetest most unique little singing voice (not great but special). Almost like a little girl. I have no doubt when her time here on earth is finished that she will be up in heaven singing with the angels.

So no matter when it all is over, when her life here with us is done, she will always be remembered as a generous person who loved her family above anything else. It is hard to see her suffer now, hard to wait until the Lord sees it time. But even now with the pain, she is still laughing and telling jokes and putting smiles on our faces. Thank you grandma. I've learned a lot from you. I've learned to take the hand that is dealt to me and make the most of it (her marriage and family was not always the easiest). I've learned that hard work does pay off and is appreciated over time. I've learned how to love and I too am excited to be a grandmother someday so that I can spoil my grandkids with kisses and a squeeze and always be proud of them.