Grandma Phyllis Gideon

Grandma Phyllis (we just called her "Grandma," but I am using her name to differentiate from the other grandma in an earlier post) was a genuinely wonderful human being. She married my grandpa long before I was born. I think they married when my mom was about ten years old or something.

She was a warm and loving person. We didn't get to see her very often. For one thing, she and Grandpa between them had like eight kids and forty grandkids or something. Everyone was spread out, so even if they spent every day of the month visiting one of the kids or grandkids, (which they didn't) it was not often that your turn came up.

She was a REAL grandma to me. I wish that I could have spent more time with her and Grandpa. She was patient and doting, but not in an unhealthy way. I got the feeling that she loved us and when we were there, we were the most important people in her world. She was attentive, not to mention that she was a good cook!

She was fun too! I remember her and Grandpa laughing a lot as they told their stories--and there were always stories to tell.

I remember that they used to drive this little two seater car. It was the first time I had ever seen a two seater car, so I was fascinated by it. Grandma and Grandpa were not small people, so they looked kind of funny squeezed into this little car.

They always brought us silver (yeah, the real deal) dollars when they came. We always stored them in an old cigar box and got quite a collection of them over the years. I don't know what ever happened to them. But I digress.

Grandma Phyllis was a woman of grace and dignity. She had gone through a lot in her life, but you would never have known it. She never allowed herself to become bitter or mean-spirited. I never saw her speak an unkind word to anyone...ever.

She loved the Lord, but just like a lot of people of that generation, didn't talk much about it. I remember hearing a story at her funeral about how she and Grandpa, on a road trip (somewhere in the midwest, I think) had passed by a church that was in need of some TLC...especially a paint job. She wrote down the name of the church and the address, and when they got home she sent a check to the church, paying for them to get it painted. She thought that "no house of God should go uncared for." Amazing lady! I was so intrigued by that story, because it was a side of her I did not know about, although it came as no surprise.

She and Grandpa are in heaven now. When Grandpa died, Grandma Phyllis was failing mentally, and at his funeral I had to explain to her who I was. She didn't know me, and that was very hard. It was the last time I saw her, but I will see her again in heaven.