Memories of Grandma

My Grandma Koyle passed away Tuesday night. We found out January 20 that she had cancer; she chose not to receive treatment, and I guess it was a blessing that she went quickly. I don't have as many memories of Grandma as my cousins who lived in Gooding with her, but those I do have are special and fun. I would always like to remember them. Just for starters, Grandma lived to be 85. She had 10 children, 59 grandchildren, and 112 great-grandchildren! I love my huge Koyle family.

• Christmas Candy Bags: Since Grandma and Grandpa had so many grandchildren, they couldn't buy presents for all of us and so every year they would deliver candy bags to us. They came in a brown lunch sack and always contained an orange, a dollar or two maybe, lots of that awesome old fashioned hard candy, peanuts, and Grandma's famous homemade peanut brittle. It was always so exciting when they showed up to deliver our bags. One year Grandma decided she needed to stop making them because it was just getting to be too much work for her. Her spoon had melted while making the brittle and she had to pick all the pieces out and start over-I think that was the straw that broke the camels back.
  
• I also remember one year they came and spent Christmas with us. I remember thinking that we were pretty special for them to come and stay because Grandma and Grandpa didn't spend the night with us hardly ever.
• Randomly, Grandma and Grandpa dropped in to visit right before I was getting picked up for Senior Prom. So I have a picture of me all dressed up with them. I wish I had a digital copy of it. I will work on getting it scanned so I can post it.
  
• My little sister LOVED Dalmatians when she was little and I remember Grandma coming up and making a dalmatian quilt with Lindy. She showed her how to help tie the yarn on it.
  
• Grandma had diabetes. I remember her always having to test her blood. One time we must have been out somewhere together and I'm guessing I was young enough that she didn't want to leave me alone. I'm not sure of all the details, but I remember being in the bathroom with her and she had to give herself a shot in the leg. Not sure why but that memory has always stuck with me. Probably because I was young and the idea of my grandma giving herself a shot was perhaps a little shocking.
  
• I remember one time we went to visit when she lived in Buhl and we had spent the night and she was making us breakfast in the morning. She made some sort of shake concoction full of 'healthy stuff' that tasted a little funny, but she also made us cinnamon toast bread that was piled high with cinnamon sugar. She had just learned that cinnamon was supposed to be good for diabetes and so she was trying to eat a lot of it. Never mind all the sugar she had mixed it with : )
  
• I remember always playing with the my little ponies and watching Shirley Temple movies while staying at her house.
• Grandma was always baking and cooking things while we were there. She was ready to feed whoever might feel like stopping by to visit-and somebody usually did.
• I remember one time she took us down to play at the Little Wood River (not sure if that is correct, but that is what I remember calling it). She let us play down there while she went to talk to grandpa at the power plant or something...then she came back for us and told us it was time to go home. I think Grandma must have liked to go places and do things because I also remember just going places with her, you know in to town to the Dairy Queen or something. Her car had those automatic seatbelts that came across when you turned the car on and I thought they were so cool.
• Grandma and Grandpa had a house in Boise at one time and we used to go over and visit a lot. I was pretty young and don't have many specific memories of that but I do remember jumping on the bed with my sisters singing that song "Teeter totter, bread and butter, wash your face with dirty water". Grandma was always having to tell us not to jump on the bed.
  
• I remember the guest bedroom in the old house and it had this huge beautiful bed and was just full of beautiful things...a little girl's dream. There were tea cups and lacy doilies and hats, and just stuff. (Can you tell that memory is from when I was a little girl?) I have a million memories of that old house, but I will save them for another day since this post is about Grandma, and not about her house : )
  
• Grandma was always doing something.
• She loved her family and was so proud of them. Her house was always full of pictures of her family, and she had that map of the world with a pin for every person who had served a mission and where they went.
  
• Her beautiful white hair, and her beautiful smile! Grandma was a beautiful person, inside and out. Even if you never knew her all you have to do is look at her family and you will know that she was a good person. It's like in the scriptures, she was a tree that brought forth good fruit. "By their fruits you may know them"

Good bye Grandma! I love you, and will always remember you. I know you are with Grandpa now and you must be so happy to be together again. I bet you were happy to see your baby girl that you never got to raise as well. Just the other day when we stopped to visit you, you were telling Justin how you had a daughter that died...I don't think I had ever heard you talk about her before. Thank you for your wonderful life.