I Believe – My Values

Dear Mom,
You have been patient you have been kind but best of all you are mine! I was blessed the day God looked at me with his hand rubbing his chin and said, “I believe you need a special women who can keep up with you, teach you to be kind and to do the right thing.” “You need a mother who can appreciate your spirit but still lovingly teach you how to control it and use it for good”, said God. So God look down at all the earth and found the perfect mother for me, you.

The first year I was in your care I was allergic to the milk that would keep me thriving, your care and patience kept me going until I was able to eat solid foods. Around the age of 6 I was so sick with just about everything and had to miss many weeks of school, you nursed me back to health. The patience you must have needed to keep me in bed and, still so that I could heal had to be hard to keep up. Thank you.

As I began to want my independence you had to really keep an eye on my activities. Was I hanging with the right people, making good decisions? Helping me with my homework was no easy or fun task…. Bless you for those times.

Growing into adulthood you helped me grow into adulthood with your words of wisdom of life as an adult woman.

I am a mother now, oh how you loved my children. You let them cut whenever they wanted, hugging them and telling them over and over how wonderful they are and how much you love them. That is the best gift that a daughter could ever ask of her mother, to love her children as you do.

Now a great grandmother to my five grandchildren you have stepped into the realm of the most kind, gentle, and unconditional love a person can show, just like our wonderful God who put us together in the first place. It was his decision to put us together on this journey called life and I thank him every day for that. My life would have looked so much different if I hadn’t had you. I shiver to think what I would have been like without a loving mom as you. Thank you for molding me into a person that I know is loved and who loves my own self.
I love you very much!
Jayme

Hey Grandma!

There is so much that I can say here. I’m having troubles choosing what to say first. Well, actually that is the easy part, I love you.

You and grandpa have started traditions that will be carried on for generations to come. You have passed down multiple different recipes like your apple pie, spaghetti and stuffing. You have shown us what it means to truly love and take care of people. You have given us a home to vacation to. These are just a few of the things that you have started that I am very proud to pass down to Jonah and Arthur.

The best of the things you are passing down is your compassion. Whenever you saw someone in need, trouble or down you were always there to help. I remember when we were vacationing in Savannah, taking a tour of the city. We had just finished lunch at Panera and we tossed some of our drinks in the trash. A homeless man came up to the trash can, dug out one of the pops, took a drink and said “you feel that?!? It’s still cold!!” with a large smile on his face. You saw all of that happen and immediately felt for him. You reached into your purse and gave him a couple of dollars so that he could “buy some warm food to go along with his cold drink.” I know you may not remember that, mostly because you help people in his similar situation all the time, but that will forever have an impact on me.

You continually living out your compassion has truly affected me and given me a road map on how to also help others. Thank you so much for that, Grandma.

Our 2017 Christmas was one to remember. But the best thing that could have happen did. You sat me down in Nana and Bobo’s office and had a conversation with me. That conversation plays in my head daily. You truly listened to me, heard me and helped me. I still don’t know the true reason why I was struggling, but with your help I was able to get it together and become a better man. Out of that conversation came a pact between us, to pray for each other every day. I try my best to do that, but sometimes I forget. I know that there is no way you miss a day. Grandma, thank you so much for taking the time to sit down with me, level with me and be honest with me. Relationships (looking form the outside in) can look too easy sometimes. You and grandpa do a great job of that. But you being honest with me and providing a small window really gave me some great perspective. Thank you so much for that, Grandma.

All in all, you have set our families up for success. You provide love, wisdom and compassion to every single one of us. You relate to us, understand us and love us unconditionally. Thank you so much for that, Grandma.

Words cannot express how much you mean to me and my family. I hope you know that.

Love you-
Alex

Grandma –

It’s hard to point to any one single memory that left the most lasting impact on my life. There are so many! I think what strikes me the most about my Grandma is that it was and is always her. I have always known that she loved me. I have always known that she cared for me. I have always know that she would protect me and guard me no matter what. She has always been my biggest cheerleader. My greatest supporter in the lows and highs of life but most importantly, in everyday life. Grandma has always been a combination of the most sweetest and most fire-iest person in the room. One minute she is in awe of me or my family and then without skipping a beat she is dropping a hilarious, sometimes out of nowhere, joke that cracks everyone up. Grandma has always made it a point to encourage me wherever I am at in my life and she has brought that encouragement without pause to Jake, James, Landon and Thalia.

Grandma, you have given me a home. I don’t know if you even realize that, but when I “go home” that’s going to your house. The time I have spent at your house is far more memorable than the time we have spent swimming and boating. It’s the time we have spent chatting on the porch, cooking in the kitchen and just relaxing in the living room. It’s also a safe place…our safe place. We can go there and just “be” and know full and well that that is more than enough.

Grandma, I love you so much and hope you know how much I admire you. I pray that my marriage will stand the test of time with such beauty as yours has. I pray that I can do for my grandchildren and great grandchildren even half of what you have done for me. I love you, Grandma!

Tori

Grandma Woodall (said in the voices of James, Landon & Thalia)!!

Thank you for welcoming me into the family from the first time we met! Nobody knew where Tori and I’s relationship would go, but it didn’t matter to her. I was important to Tori, therefore I was important to her! She has continued this care and love for me throughout my being apart of her family. It doesn’t matter what is going on, Grandma is a constant pillar of support, love and great food :)!!

At the lake, there are so many memories with Grandma, but 3 stand out for me. For as long as i can remember, there are 2 constants at the lake, Cherry Pie and Potato Salad without onions! Two of my favorites! She would always have these for me, knowing how much I enjoyed eating them! Its not just that she would have them, its that she knew how picky of an eater I was and went the extra mile to make sure she had specific food for me, the grandson-in-law. Another wonderful memory is when Bobo brings out the guitar, watching the joy it brought to Grandma was priceless. At any moment she may stand and dance or at least rock in her chair with her fins to the left, fins to the right! Tori and Grandma against Grandpa and I in hand and foot would show all sides of Grandma…you would see the sweetness when she apologized for leaving you with a red 3, but at the same time you know she is a competitor and just stuck it to you! The next moment, she does it again, Grandpa makes a quip about it and the giggles come on hard and heavy! All in the matter of a few minutes we would get to see what makes Grandma beautiful…her passion, her compassion, her sense of humor and her love for family!

Grandma, the passion you show for Tori and I has shown through for our kids as well. As a parent, there is nothing better than to watch your little ones crawl into Grandma’s lap and snuggle in! I appreciate everything you have done for me and my family! I love you Grandma!

Jake

Mom –

You live your life with love and grace.

Your smile lights up a room. You have a tremendous love for people. Your laugh and sense of humor are infectious. You play a killer game of hand and foot.

You provide a tremendous example to your extended family of how to live with joy and compassion.
You made a terrific pick for a husband many years ago, and since then you have been a tremendous Gracie to his George. Or is it the other way around – you’re the straight man and Grandpa is the never-know-what-he’s-going-to-say-next guy. The two of you make, and have always made, a terrific team.

You’ve welcomed me and all my friends with open arms all my life. When I was a teenager, I would frequently be late practicing with the guys downstairs, because you and I were chatting upstairs. I enjoyed those talks a lot. And thanks for sending the cute blond downstairs with popcorn.

Tori and Alex adore you. You have been so kind, so loving, and so consistent with them their entire lives. If you look up Perfect Grandma in the dictionary, your picture will be there. You care deeply for them, enjoy spending time with them, and give the best hugs. They know you are always there for them and you support them in everything they do. You have accepted Jee Hoon, Susan and Makayla into our family and helped them experience the love you have always given to your natural family.

You have accepted my siblings as part of the family. When Bob and Kathie come to the lake, they feel just as at home as our family does. They love you too.

It’s always been fun watching you interact with your friends. You have established long relationships with terrific people. We enjoy spending time with you and Grandpa and your friends.

Jayme and I really enjoy spending time with you and Grandpa. You always enjoy hearing the updates of what’s going on in our and the kids’ lives. We enjoy playing cards, listening to the music from your earlier years, and just chatting about all the latest happenings.

I know you are always there for me. Whether it’s celebrating the great moments, or battling through the tough ones, you are such a comfort to me. I know you will love me no matter what. That is a terrific gift you give me. And I love you a ton as well.

You are a terrific person, mom. Thank you for all you do for me and my family. I look forward to many more of those terrific hugs to come!

I love you!
John

In 1954, my good friends Johnny Ramp and Eldon Province went to Pond Creek, Oklahoma to go on wheat harvest for Eldon’s cousin, this was the last of May. They needed another combine operator on the crew, so they came back to Latham to see if I wanted to go, which l did. We drove back to Oklahoma and we went to work getting the equipment ready for wheat harvest.

The man we were working for was Omar Skaggs and he had four combines and four trucks as well as a trailer house and a bunk house with metal bunk army cots for the crew. Omar’s wife was our cook and she and Omar stayed in the trailer house. When we were in the fields cutting wheat they would bring our meals to us, otherwise we would eat in the trailer house.

When we moved to another location, we loaded the combines on the trucks and the header of the combines were raised so they would be just a few inches above the cab of the truck. We would load up with combines loaded, a pickup pulling the bunk house and a pickup pulling the trailer house, quite a parade on the road. I was a combine operator but when we were moving I was driving a truck that was loaded and top heavy. When we were not cutting wheat we didn’t get paid but did get room and board. The combine operators were paid 12 dollars a day and the truck drivers were paid 10 dollars a day. Johnny and I were combine operators and Eldon was a truck driver.

We cut Omar’s wheat and some of his friends around the area, then we loaded up and headed to western Kansas. Eldon decided that he didn’t want to go on further so he went back home. We worked our way through Kansas, some of the customers were people Omar had cut for several years. He was always calling ahead, getting more acres as we moved north. We left Kansas and cut into northeast Colorado then into Wyoming and back into Nebraska.  It wasn’t unusual to have a big deer jump up as you were cutting in these areas.

We moved into South Dakota then into North Dakota. Omar always made arraignments to park our bunk house next to a place that had bathroom and bath privileges such as a local hotel. We left the Dakotas and moved into Montana which I thought was a lovely state. The wheat was not ready, but we were at a ranch of twin brothers and they had bailed hay that they need to be brought into the barn so we hauled hay for a couple of days. The school kids that lived in the country made arrangements to stay in town during the winter so they could get to school.

While we were in Montana, Johnny and I drove to see Custer’s last stand. We would try to see things in the area we were working when we could. When we got paid, I would cash my check and send most of it home by money order and mom would put it in the bank. We were at Helena, Montana and near the Canada border around September 10. Johnny was to start his senior year and school had already started, so both of us quit and the crew went on up into Canada. Johnny wanted to hitch hike to Oklahoma with our stuffed duffle bags, I said it’s the train for me so we both rode the train to Ponca City, Oklahoma which is twenty miles back to where Johnny’s car was. We left our heavy bags at the train station and started walking. We walked past other hitch hikers as we walked the 18 miles of the highway, then turned onto a gravel road and walked another mile and caught a ride the last mile. We arrived at the Skaggs farm to find a flat tire on Johnny’s car. We changed the tire and drove twenty miles to the train station to get our luggage then headed back to Kansas. We both were glad we didn’t ride our thumbs from Montana.