Oma Darling

(I don't have a picture of Oma on here, so I stole this from my cousin.)

Yesterday (March 11, 2010), my Charlott Spencer, my Great Grandma (we called her Oma, German from 'Grandma'), died at the ripe ol' age of 98. Oma was 4 short months from making it to her 99th birthday.

Oma is my dad's, dad's, mom. Oma lived in Michigan where my dad's family is from, and lived in a retirement home type apartment building. Oma was a social butterfly, and she didn't let age stop her from living her life. She hung out with her friends and played games (her favorite was Uno), and she got out with her freinds and road the bus around town.

Oma had 3 children, and many grand children and great grand children. Oma's daughter, my great aunt Bev, passed on before her, as well as her husband and many other loved ones, that I'm sure she is thrilled to be with again now.

I LOVE that Oma lived so long and well. She was as sharp as a tack and as happy and funny as anyone I know. I have a few memories of Oma that I just can't help but smile over, and I love to tell them, so I will now too.

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One day we were in Michigan, my family and I, and my sister and I were in the kitchen at my grandparents house. Oma was visiting us there that day, and she walked into the kitchen from the living room, and stopped part way through her journey to look at something that was on the floor.

"What is that?" she asked.

My sister and I walked over and looked down to see a little black rock on the floor at her feet.

"A rock." we said. "

"Chocolate?"

"A rock."

"Chalk?"

"A rock."

"Chocolate? Like from a cookie?"

Giving up, we finally agreed, "Yes Grandma, chocolate from a cookie." We picked it up and threw it away giggling at how cute Oma was.

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Amanda (my sister) had hiccups one day (again, in Michigan), and Oma became concerned about her health, and suggested she go see a doctor about those hiccups.

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Last time I was in Michigan, we went to visit Oma at her apartment. We always made sure to eat a good meal before we went to visit because we wanted to have a good/true excuse not to eat her food, because she would always offer us expired food (makes me smile to think of it). Well, on this particular day, we walked into Oma's apartment to find her with a bad wig on. It was brown and short, and it was not on straight and was poking up in places. No one wanted to say anything because we were afraid she was making an atempt to look younger. After offering us food with no takers...

"You better eat up, you'll be hungry later!"

She decided it was time to play a game of Uno with us. The cards were delt, and as we began to play, Oma suddenly exclaimed;

"No one said anything about my wig, don't you like it?"

We all looked up at her and she began to laugh and pull off her wig. She was trying to be funny, and was waiting for someone to say something about her wig, but we didn't wanted to hurt her feelings, so we remained silent. What a funny lady. :)

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Well, there are other stories, but those were the ones I wanted to share. I'll miss Oma, but I know she is better off. I'm sad she is gone, but we all knew it would happen sooner or later, she couldn't live forever, and we were lucky for all the time we had with her. We were prepared for the day she would leave us, but we will still miss her so.

I love you Oma!