March 23, 1931 – January 17, 1997
My Grandma LaVerne Gordon was a “professional Grandma” because she fit the definition in almost every way. She loved her three kids and thirteen grandchildren immensely. Grandma seldom put herself first and has been one of the most selfless people I’ve ever known.
From a very early age, I remember Grandma sewing on her large industrial sewing machine (which I was never allowed to touch!) and making us dresses. Sarah and I always had some matching newly homemade dress to wear to wear to church. Love was sewn in the stitches. I was touched even after her passing to go through her sewing room to find two unfinished dresses with tiny papers pinned on that said “Laura” and “Sarah” on them.
Grandma was also a skilled artist. She could draw, cross stitch, paint, and make things from clay. I enjoyed her paintings and drawings most of all. One year, Grandma was teaching Sarah and I how to paint. We each picked a picture to paint on the canvas. Mine was a picture of a house on the prairie, and Sarah’s was a natural scene. Grandma took each step slowly to teach us. Our paintings were looking professional. One day our lesson was interrupted by a ring of the door bell. It was Grandma’s visiting teachers. Grandma told us specifically to keep doing what we were doing and she would hurry back downstairs to help us. Must have been all the “Bob Ross” we had seen with her growing up, but Sarah and I “knew what we were doing,” and finished our paintings. I had added many “wild flower creations” to my painting, and Sarah mixed up some dark turquoise color for her “sky.” Grandma was not too happy about us skipping ahead on our lessons but we all laughed about it later.
Grandma’s house was only 2 and a half blocks away from my home most my life so naturally their house was a second home to me growing up. We watched BED KNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS at least 100 times together. We slept over often too. I remember my sweet Grandma putting extra blankets over me at night when she thought I was sleeping at night.
During the school year, Sarah and I would count down for the summer because that was when we would go out with Grandma, Grandpa, and our cousin Kristl and camp in the RV. We usually went to various Camperworld’s and would stay for up to a week at a time. We loved it. Grandma and Grandpa walked us out to the pool at some point every day when we camped. We would play games together, Pictionary, Go Fish, and Pit.
One night during our camping trip, I remember going through a phase of anxiety when sleeping over places. I would lay awake at night, and watch the clock in the VCR of the RV and watch the minutes blink in green. After some time, I quietly walked through the trailer to where Grandma was sleeping. “Grandma? …. Grandma???” I was whispering, but she heard me. Her head popped up and I whispered, “I can’t sleep…” Grandma quietly got out of her comfortable bed, and took me back to the sofa couch I was supposed to be sleeping on. She told me to lie back down, close my eyes, and she would tickle my back until I fell asleep. Grandma slowly tickled me for a while, and then when she thought I was asleep, crept back up to her bed. Even though I wasn’t fully asleep when she left, I was calmed down enough that sleep finally came.
Every summer Grandma and Grandpa grew a large garden in their back yard. At least two rows of this garden were raspberries – my favorite. It wasn’t uncommon growing up that many of her grandchildren would go through the raspberries and pick them and eat them as we went. I remember eating bowls full with milk for a great dessert. Another big part of her having a garden was snapping beans. During the summer, Grandma and Grandpa would pick buckets full of beans and we would sit around the cool basement of their home in Lehi snapping them while watching a movie. It was so great.
I miss Grandma’s cooking also. Whenever I made my way towards her house, she was giving me something tasty. Sometimes it was a slice of delicious banana bread or peanut butter cookie, and other times she would insist I eat a banana or some other fruit. Grandma made homemade pizza that I will never forget. Extremely thin crust, and thick pepperoni. The year she got sick, for my birthday she made me a meal I requested… Tuna Noodle Casserole. She was so thrilled that I requested that meal, and took a lot of pride in making it for me.
One thing I loved about my Grandma is how she could stretch a dollar. Of course, sometimes this would be a cause of argument too. During a long trip to Salt Lake City once, I recall sharing one three piece meal from KFC with Sarah and Kristl. Grandma would take Kristl, Sarah, and I to the gas station with a 32oz fill up mug, and would fill it up with the drink of our choice, and later at home we split it three or four ways. Thrift shops were a popular stop for Grandma, and I got plenty of treasures growing up from them.
During my years as a ballet dancer, it impressed me that Grandma knew how to make a real tutu because she used to sew for Ballet West of Utah. I always hoped that she would make me one. She was proud of my dancing, and loved to hear me talk about it.
Things haven’t been quite the same without having her around. I have thought about her a lot this last few weeks since my Grandpa Gordon passed. I spent a lot of time with her in 1996 around the time of her passing. We moved from Ohio to Utah that summer and I realize now how lucky we were to spend that time with her before she passed away. I remember decorating her home for Christmas one year while we were watching CHORUS LINE. Just two days before her passing, Grandma squeezed my hand as if to tell me she loved me.
Grandma was a special lady, and she has been missed. She helps inspire me today and I know she would be so proud of me and all her Grandchildren, and especially her little great grandchildren. I’m sure she is close by and watching over us. We love you Grandma!
