Friday, December 24, 2004

Gramma Mommy Passed Away

My grandma Mileski passed away happily in her daughter Sue’s house with her 3 children, Sue, Cindy, and Jimmy. She passed away around 7:30 pm on December 16, 2004
We will all certainly miss such a wonderful lady like grandma. We know that she is now in heaven with her parents and so many others who have been waiting for her bright smile and spirit. We want her to be remembered just like she looks in her picture in our gallery, with a bright smile and loving and kind personality.

I am certain I speak for all her grandchildren with the words I would like to share about her life and legacy.

Grandma Gladys always went by Grandma MOMMY. The reason we all called her this is because she was like our own moms. She loved us like we were her own children and trust me she even let us know when we weren’t doing what she though our mothers would want us to do. There are so many wonderful stories and memories that I have about Grandma MOMMY.
I want to share a fun memory I have of grandma down in Florida. All of us would love visiting grandma down in her condo in Boca whenever we had the chance. Well I remember one trip where Weston and I were down there and I gad gotten absolutely FRIED BY THE SUN and of course with all of her love and care Grandma insisted that she put this YOGURT or as she said it YOGRIT all over my sun-burnt body. I will admit it felt wonderfully soothing and I couldn’t have been more happy to be in the loving arms of my grandma than at that moment. So I go in to watch some TV with Weston and he is giving me these wierd looks and asks me what the heck stinks so bad? It turns out that the YOGURT was about 2 YEARS SPOILED and I smelt so bad it was nasty. We all had so much fun with Grandma MOMMY. I won’t go into detail now, but ask me sometime about my FIRST KISS and how proud Grandma was.

All of us grand kids just loved getting picked on by grandma. It isn’t what you might think, but it was something that only grandma mommy could do. She would sit next to us in church and instead of rubbing our backs or scratching our heads, she would take little pinches at our skin and tell us she was “picking on us.” She was the BEST AT THAT, it never seemed to be the same when I would ask my mom to pick on me. Only grandma MOMMY knew how to do it right. That is one of the first things I am going to have her do when I see her again in Heaven.

On a bit more serious note I do want to express my gratitude and admiration for Grandma Mileski. What a wonderful woman and example she was to all of us. I am so grateful Grandma that you were humble enough, spiritual enough and prepared to accept the GOSPEL from the missionaries that knocked on your door many years ago. Our entire family owes our faith, knowledge and love of the Lord and His Gospel to Grandma Mileski. I know she is with Heavenly Father and that she is soooo happy. I can’t wait til we can all see her again someday.

Some final words and a quick story that I want to share will help me to portray to you what a caring woman she was. I had my last conversation with Grandma on Wed the 15th. I am so glad we were able to talk even for just that short moment. My mom put the phone up to Grandma and told me she probably couldn’t say anything but that I could let her know I loved her. As I heard the phone next to her I said, “Hi Grandma, I love you” and before I could say anything else she gathered all her strength and said “Hi Eric, I love you too!” and before anything else she wanted to know how Hailey was. At this moment I got so choked up and realized as she laid there just waiting for her time to come, she was genuinely interested in how my wife Hailey was. Oh what a wonderful lady and how much I will miss her and wish that Hailey and our future kids could have only had more time with her.

I pray that we can all remember Grandma for the sweet lady that she was and still is. She will be missed but always remembered for her love, generosity, and example. WE LOVE YOU GRANDMA GLADYS WITH ALL OUR HEARTS!

GRANDMA MOMMY MEMORIES
by Weston Marsh

One of the first memories I have is with my Grandma Mommy. I was only 2 years old, yet I vividly remember sitting on the train with my Grandma and feeling so excited to be going to a new place with new people and things to see. We were taking the train to NYC! This memory exemplifies how I felt so many times being with my Grandma Mommy. Whether we were hunting at garage sales or driving in her Cadillac down the coast of Southern Florida, being with Grandma Mommy was always fun and exciting because she loved to get out and enjoy life.

Grandma was such a big part of her grandkids� lives. We loved having sleepovers on her porch–with Grandma and her two dogs, Buffy and Mulligan. The closeness we had with Grandma was pretty unusual. My family loves to tell the story of how I looked at my Grandma�s cleavage and asked her why she had two bottoms. Eric and I remember her trying to hook us up on dates, and she wanted specific details about any kissing that went on! Grandma Mommy loved to find things at garage sales, so as kids we played �Garage Sale,� selling all of our stuff to each other. We would even take turns playing Grandma Mommy. One time Mariah put lipstick on me and tried to cut my hair. I feel blessed to have spent so much one-on-one time with my Grandma and my wonderful memories of her will always be with me.

My Mom
By Cindy Marsh

My Mom passed away Thursday evening at the home of my sister Susan’s . We were with her when she died. She had been in the hospital since the day before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was her 82 nd. birthday. After a hard struggle in the hospital it was evident her body wasn’t going to spring back the way it had been doing for the past seven years since her original major stroke. My Mom wanted to see her children and grandchildren grow up, get married, have babies and share in their happiness. Luckily she was able to do this for the latter part of her life, I know it was what kept her going when her body started failing. As much as she wanted to stay, her body was giving out. She finally accepted this and was at peace with going on to the next stage of God’s plan. I am so glad she could be at home her last few days so we could be with her, care for her and let her know we how much she meant to us.

I’ll never forget her last weeks of life and how brave she was and how honored I felt to be her daughter. As hard as it was to let her go, I am comforted to know she is free of the physical struggles she had to endure and is at peace with her family that has gone before her. Love. Cindy

Grandma Mommy Memories
BY LISA LOVELL

I will always remember my grandma as someone who was extremely generous, loving, and happy! I especially remember all the time we spent at her house in Ravenna when we were younger. Grandma had a huge doll house with all the �like real, only miniature� furniture and accessories. She would always let us play with it if we were very careful. All of us loved to roll marbles down her unique handrail, too. When I think about it now, the sound of crashing marbles was probably really annoying, but I never remember her complaining. She also had tons of dolls in her house. Although her porcelain dolls were always kind of scary, I loved playing with all the dolls she had in her upstairs closet. Another thing I remember about going to Grandma Mommy�s house was her stale candy. Without a doubt Grandma would have a dish full of candy, usually sticky wrapped butterscotch candies, or rock hard gumdrops! And, I�m sure none the grandchildren will forget her then high-tech clap-on-clap-off lights and her remote control bed!

As I grew up Grandma was always sure to give advice or to check and see how things were going. I am especially thankful that she told me I needed to pluck my bushy eyebrows! When she heard I was getting engaged she was sure to make sure my future husband was not just a wonderful guy, but that he �turned me on!� Grandma was always looking out for my best interest!

One very special memory I have about my Grandma was when I was sick in the hospital, having just had abdominal surgery. At the time she was in Florida. Grandma let everyone at her church know that I was very sick and asked if they would offer a special fast for me. After my recovery I visited her in Florida and she was so proud to show all her friends how healthy I was. I don�t know if I ever told her how much that meant to me.

It was always hard for me to see my grandma when she was sick. I�m so thankful that she is now happy and with those she loves. I hope she left knowing what great love and gratitude I have for such an amazing grandma!