Saturday, February 22, 2020
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My sisters and I were never fortunate to live close by Grandma Mendenhall, but I always admired her effort to come see us every summer. Sometimes with Aunt Lorraine, but often by taking a bus from Wichita, Ks to Sedgwick, CO. I know that wasn't an easy trip, especially since she was lovingly caring for Grandpa at that time, after his strokes.
She typically would buy us the large "fancy" Crayon box while she was there, so we could go back to school with the "best" colors. I know for Debbie and I, it was special.
My favorite memory of Grandma by far though is when she went with my mom and us to go see "Footloose" in a very small theater in Julesburg,CO, where of course everyone knew us. She was dancing on the sidewalk. I so admired her ability to not care what others thought and her just pure joy. I, of course also found it entertaining to see my mom cringe, since she didn't have that carefree attitude. It was a lesson in caring more about finding joy and pleasure in what makes you happy than caring what others think.
Grandma really was just another word for Love.