Great Grandma Frances

This is my Great Grandmother Frances. She is holding my Grandmother Leona. I remember Frances well. She passed away just a couple of years ago and we had the pleasure of having her attend almost nearly every large family function.

My Grandma Leona on the other hand passed away when my mother was only 12. I hear a lot that I am like Leona quite a bit but it is hard to imagine when you have no clear comparison. But if I would like to be like anyone it would be Frances. So in a way I am sure that is like Leona too.

Frances grew up poor in a home with a large family. Between her fathers first wife who passed away and her siblings  from his second wife, there were 16 children in the house. I can hardly imagine. They lived out in the country where the closest town was easily 15 miles away. Their farm took a hard hit during the depression. We also live in Nebraska and there is a story of there being a horrible storm rolling in with a possible tornado. There were so many children the Frances was left in the house to weather the storm. And let me tell you she never had liked storms since!

But like any farm girl in those days she learned how to survive and went on to marry. She had 5 children and played several roles in her life. She was an avid gardener, cook and she even went on in the 60's and 70's to drive 25 miles and work in a factory to make ends meet. She made rag rugs and sold them at the local farmers market and for church bazaars. She was a busy woman and known for her fried chicken. And strong willed!

Frances stood strong when she lost my Grandmother. Then on to lose another daughter and son. Her husband passed away and she maintained her life living on the farm. She finally moved into town and lived in low housing but was mostly independent. And every holiday someone would drive the 20 miles to get her and bring her to eat and drink wine. Towards the end she endured breast cancer. That was the slow decline, but if you didn't know her you would of never realized she was losing some of her spunk.

We lost Frances three years ago. She was 96. Holidays are just not the same. No waiting for someone to get back with Grandma. No helping her put her jacket on. And no envelopes addressed to her when kids have parties. But every time I fry chicken (which I hope is just as good as hers!) I smile.

  ~April~