Gratitude For.....

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?  I recently had an  “aha” moment about gratitude while researching my family history.

My maternal grandmother, Minnie Ketelhut, lived at a time when laundry was done with a washboard and wringer, when water came into the house through a hand pump and was heated on a wood-fired stove, and when the outhouse was OUT.  Without conveniences I take for granted, she took care of a husband, five boys and my Mom. She baked, canned, butchered, gardened, cleaned and regularly made homemade noodles for Mom, because Mom didn’t like potatoes!  Did I mentioned that she embroidered too - and enjoyed going to the opera, visiting her family and going to church?

She did what needed to be done despite all that life threw at her.  Grandma was born in Wisconsin in 1891. When she was 8, her father got sick and she had to quit school to help on the farm. Her fiancé died when she was 18, and her mother encouraged her to move to Detroit.  She married my grandfather who already had 4 young boys. She had three more children of her own, including one who was stillborn.  And then her husband got sick.

She and Grandpa moved to their hunting cabin in northern Michigan in the mid-1930s when the stress of the city overwhelmed him.  From the relative luxury of Detroit, she adapted to her new primitive home.  Her 13-year-old daughter, my Mom, stayed in the city and went to work for a family as a ‘mother’s helper.’  I can’t imagine how difficult is was for Grandma to leave her daughter!

As I tell her story, you might be wondering what about it makes me grateful. Is it that I have electricity and all sorts of modern appliances?  Is it that I haven’t experienced the tragedies my grandmother did?  No, it’s something more.....

I am grateful for the life lessons Grandma has passed down to me through my Mom.  You see, I never knew her.  She died when I was 6 months old.  Her legacy, however, lived on.

Hard work is good and necessary. Taking care of your family is important.

I can survive great adversity and thrive on the other side of it.

And the most important lesson of all - God is always with me.  Grandma’s trust in God was always a part of her life from attending a little Lutheran church in Wisconsin to a big one in Detroit.  She taught my Mom about the love of God, and my Mom taught me.

Love, perseverance and faith.  While I didn’t fully appreciate these lessons growing up, or even as a young adult, I now know they helped make me who I am. Thank you, Grandma, for sharing with me a few ounces of your quiet faithful strength.

This Thanksgiving, I am going to spend some time being grateful for those who came before me.  Whose life helped shape you?  Remember and be thankful.