20 years ago today, I had been up all night in the car with John, his mom, and his sisters, heading to Georgia to meet the Andersen side of the family for the first time. We had arrived a few hours before, and almost immediately we had gone to bed. I awoke, not remembering where I was exactly, stumbled out of the room, and proceeded down the long hallway towards the only light I could see.
It was coming from the kitchen, as were several voices happily chatting away. As I peered in through the doorway, there was Shirley Andersen and John W Andersen Sr sitting at the table with her siblings laughing and joking while they exchanged stories from the old days.
A voice brought me out of my warm fuzzy feeling.
“You want something to drink?” It was John’s uncle Dale, the jolliest host I had ever met. He stood there smiling at me with a bottle of Lemoncello in his hands. He had been pouring drinks for his mother and her siblings at the table.
I smiled and stammered a bit “I, Um, no thanks, I’m not 21.” I am pretty sure I turned beet red.
“Hey, no problem, I’ve got other stuff.”
“I’m good for now, thanks though,” I said immediately at ease with his sweet happy demeanor. I went to join the others at the table.
They all welcomed me and continued down memory lane. Shirley taking the lead. She began what ended up sounding almost like a magical tale about her early days of being a wife and mother in France. I was drawn in completely. I found myself mesmerized, as if transported to a different world. The first thing I learned about her was that she was an amazing storyteller.
Grandma Andersen was as beautiful as she was particular. She had a certain way she liked things done. Down to where everything went in the refrigerator, she liked things organized and tidy.
She welcomed one and all with open arms and an open kitchen just as she welcomed me that night. It didn’t matter your race, creed, or religion, if you were in need, she would do all she could for you.
Remarkable is how I would describe her, if only allowed to choose one word. Through my 20 years in this family, I knew her to be a what-you-see-is-what-you-get lady. She loved deeply, fiercely protected the rules of whatever game you were playing with her (Usually poker or Tripoley), her stories were vivid memories described with humor, history, and human spark. There was never a dull moment in her company.
She was the matriarch of the family, the one who started it all. With her sweet husband, began a family that has grown to be filled with creative, loving, generous, fabulous and wonderful people. (The reason we had come to Georgia in the first place was Grandma and Grandpa Andersen were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. At the party, Grandpa stood to toast his family and included me as a part of it! John and I weren’t even engaged yet! But that is the kind of people they were;that is the way they loved.) Now I am blessed to call them all mine!
I know it broke her heart to see my father in law leave this earth, but now she has joined him. Together they are hanging out with Grandpa and watching over us all just as they did in life. I will miss them forever and I only hope I am making them proud in my roll in this family, because I owe it all to them that I am in it!
My Little Corner of the World 