Cole

                                                                                

 Owen and cousin Jesse both share the same middle name... Cole.  That is after our grandparents, whose last name was Cole.  As I sit down to write a little something about our grandparents, I am overwhelmed as to where I should start.  They were such AMAZING people!!!  Michael, Julie, and I learned so many wonderful life lessons from them.  They were some of the most humble, grateful, and giving people I know.  Life sent them some very hard knocks (Pa was shot in the head during WW2 and had a severe stroke in his thirties... he had to learn to walk, talk, write, etc. all over again and was in the hospital for a year.  As you can imagine, this changed their lives forever.  Grandma developed arthritis early in life and I'm sure dealt with a greater amount of pain than we ever realized.  I remember the first time I saw her toes, because they were literally crossed on top of each other and it made quite an impression on me as a kid).  And yet they were not bitter people...just the opposite.  We kids had the honor of helping in small ways for Mom and Dad as they took care of Grandma and Pa in the last years of their lives.  Grandma and Pa both handled themselves in those very trying times with dignity and grace.  Some favorite memories of my "Grandma and Pa" are:

*  I loved to spend the night at their house... Pa would move to the couch to let me sleep with grandma and she would tell me to close my eyes before she turned out the light... she said that way it wasn't so bad when it was dark... she then would play soft music and hold my hand until I fell asleep. 

*  Pa was a vivacious reader... I don't remember a time that the floor in front of his chair was not strewn with books.  Everywhere he went, he took a book.

*  I went through a phase where I would call Grandma and pretend to be selling all sorts of things... she of course, would play along with my silly games.

*  Grandma played all sorts of games with us... card games, board games, "office," "school," etc.

*  We would have days where "we" put up corn.  Pa and us kids would shuck and silk the corn and Grandma and Mom would cut it off the cob. 

*  We would have great yard sales at their house.  We would set up a lemonade stand.

*  Grandma and Pa would keep us when Mom and Dad went out of town.  Grandma would sing "Oh, Little Playmate" to us when she drove us to school.

*  Grandma always said, "All we can do is brighten our little corner of the world."  She did just that!  I'm so glad I was in her "corner."

It is for all of these wonderful memories and so many more, that we are so proud that our sons bear their name.