Remembering Grandma Daehn

Mae Fern in 2009 holding Timmy

My Grandma Daehn passed away just recently, and we had a memorial service for her this week in California. I was asked to say some words of remembrance at the funeral. I composed something on my iPad on the flight out, conscious of my seatmate glancing at the screen. It's hard to summarize a life in a few minutes, under less than ideal conditions, and this barely scratches the surface of who Grandma was; but here is my attempt at a eulogy.

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It's a blessing to be here with so many of my grandmother's friends and loved ones.

I've been reminiscing about her these past few days, and it struck me that all of my memories are good ones. I guess that makes sense when you consider that I've never lived in California, so when I was with her, it was usually associated with a vacation or wedding or some other special occasion.

She and my grandpa, Wally, used to visit us in Wisconsin in the summer. I can just picture her playing cards at our kitchen table, or sitting in the orange recliner with a bowl of popcorn in her lap...snoring to beat all.

One day it was just the two of us and she told me some stories from when she was a young single woman, including an incident where she was in a car that rolled over, and she laughed as she recalled these antics. One thing we have in common is we snort when we get to laughing real hard.

I can see her in her room at Aunt Jan and Uncle Tim's house, crochet needle in her hand, yelling - YELLING - at the A's game on TV.

And I can imagine her with dark brown hair, in the kitchen on Floyd avenue, frying ground beef. The word she is saying is Trixie. That's the little dog she had when I was a kid. She scolds and the next second she is feeding Trixie a nibble of something and smiling.

And that's what makes me think it wasn't just our visits that were made of happy memories. She was an essentially joyful, boisterous person who could find a way to be content in just about any situation. She rarely complained, and counted her blessings day by day. Through faith she found the peace that surpasses all understanding.

I can't figure out a way to end without a cliche. So many of them are true. She had a good life. She touched many people with her love. We will miss her, and she lives on in our memories. As we are grieving, at the same time we are rejoicing that she has gone to her eternal rest, and that has us smiling through our tears.

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I believed I could probably stand up and read it without weeping, but I was very wrong about that. Nonetheless, it was indeed mostly a happy time, and I enjoyed visiting with family and my mom's dear friend Regina, and having the opportunity to give Grandma this small tribute.