Still catching up

Share a few memories of your grandparents. Did they live nearby? What do you remember doing with them?

My grandparents on my Dad's side are Don Mack Smith and Pamela Jane Johansen; we call them Grandpa Don and Grandma Pam. Grandpa Don is a very quiet man, who most of the time sat in his chair in the upstairs living room watching either sports or the Weather Channel. He was a brick mason for a long time, and one time for a family reunion we all built a fire pit with him. Grandpa is also a good gardener, especially with corn. Every summer when we'd visit he'd have giant ears of corn, lots of zucchini and tomatoes, sometimes carrots. He never said much, but I remember him always hugging us goodbye when we left. Now that we're all getting older, including him, he talks a lot more and will sometimes tell us cool stories about growing up or about our parents. My Grandma Pam is pretty much the opposite- she is always talking to someone, laughing at everything, and very active. She's always working on a new humanitarian project or sewing someone a quilt or helping her friends. She would sing to us when we were really little and always had lemon cookies and green Koolaid. For the first part of my childhood we lived in Utah about 10 minutes away from them, and after coming back from Houston we actually lived in their basement. The things I remember the most from when we were young is playing in their giant basement downstairs. Their downstairs living room is probably bigger than some people's whole house. On nights there was a family gathering, there could be as many as 25 grand-kids down there at once, at least that's what it felt like. They had a really creaky rocking horse, and my grandma had all the old hymnals and children's songbooks by the piano.
On my Mom's side, I have my Grandma Sharee, Grandpa Neil and Grandpa Garth. Grandma Sharee and Grandpa Garth are my Mom's parents, and Grandpa Garth died of cancer when my mom was 13 years old. A few months before I was born, Grandma Sharee and Grandpa Neil got married, so they're the ones I really know. I remember having a lot of family dinners and picnics with them. When I was little they had a house with a big backyard, swings, garden, plum tree. I remember it being a pretty cool house. One of my first memories of them is having a Easter Egg hunt at their house. Grandma Sharee is always, and I mean always, doing something. I swear she has more energy than like 10 of me combined. She's always redoing room or planting something or helping her kids with their children or house or making dinner for someone or sewing dresses or catering for a wedding, etc... She's incredible. Grandpa Neil is the king of telling stories and singing songs to his grand-kids. As an English teacher, he was always reading us a fun new book he found or sending us home with books he read as a kid. We usually stay with them when we go back to visit Utah, and I love staying up late and talking with them about life. When Jasmine was born, Grandma Sharee flew out with my mom and we got to spend time just us four; it was such a fun experience.
Since I never knew Grandpa Garth, I don't have as much I can write about him. I know he was a really incredible person, a great husband and father, and just well liked in general. From what I remember my Mom and others telling me about him, he loved baseball, BYU games, acted, and loved his family above all else. When I was pregnant and really sick, Ethan gave me a blessing that I will always remember. In the blessing, he said that my Grandpa Garth loved the campus of BYU Hawaii and the Laie Temple, and that he was there with me often protecting me and lifting me up from the other side. He also told me that Grandpa Garth was helping teach Jasmine and preparing her for her life here on Earth. The thought of him being with my baby and having his time and a Great-Grandpa before she was born touched my heart and brought tears to my eyes.