Holly's Grandparents

Okay, the vitamin C thing is cracking me up. That is everyone's memory of Grandma Breckenridge. I don't remember her on the couch at all. I just remember her in bed with her oxygen. The last time I saw her she gave us all little presents (which I seem to remember her always doing, but I could be wrong). I got some embroidery scissors that folded up and a pencil with a little plastic squirrel hanging from the end. Of course I remember the vitamins, and they will always remind me of her. Grandpa Breckenridge was just as everyone else has said. Mark summed it up best after the funeral when he said, "What I liked best about him is that whenever you went to visit, he always acted as though you were exactly the person he wanted to see at that moment." Heidi and I loved playing dress-ups in the basement with Jennie and Andy. I also loved the sound of the train coming through the window in the morning, along with the nice smell of Utah. I have a memory of sleeping with Grandpa once, and he burped a lot. This is a picture of my favorite "thing" from the Breckenridge house. I used to play with it every time we went over there. I don't remember seeing it after Grandma died, but I took a chance and asked Donna if she remembered it, and she was kind enough to find it and give it to me. It plays "Country Roads" for those of you who may not remember.

As for the Lauritzens, I have about as many memories of Grandpa that I do of Grandma Breckenridge. Of course I remember the blue overalls, the irrigating, and the card shuffler. I also remember him swinging me between his legs. I loved that. And who can forget the bottled rootbeer in the basement? Grandma Lauritzen was the "crabby" grandma who was always on my case about putting on some makeup and not whining about things. I sprained my ankle pretty badly once riding bikes with Laura and Grandma was sure there was nothing wrong with me. Despite that, though, she was as generous as anyone could be and everyone loved her. When I moved to Utah I loved visiting her just to get out of a noisy apartment and to enjoy the quiet of her house (except for Matlock on the TV, of course). By the end she was so blind that when she invited me over for dinner I had to cook it because she couldn't see the oven knobs. The cheese in the refrigerator was always moldy, too, and she never noticed. This picture is of the clock that Mom made. It hung in that house so long that when we took it down there was a square behind it on the wood that had not been sunbleached. The stuffed animals on top were a favorite of ours as kids. I could go on and on, but I think this post is long enough. It really is fun to remember them like this! Oh, remember the handheld electronic baseball game? I loved that thing!