Thirty Days of Thanks - Day 2

Today, on All Souls' Day, I’m thankful for memories of loved ones I’ve lost.  Most notably is obviously my father, but about a year and a half ago my paternal grandmother passed on.  Having suffered from dementia, it was really a blessing for both her and everyone who loved her, but she had a long life, cognitively doing reasonably well into her early 80s.

The memories surrounding her that I treasure the most go back to those I’ve held since a very young age.  Rill Oma, along with all of my other grandparents, was a major caretakers of myself and my siblings.  Being the oldest grandchild on both parents’ sides of the family, I had the distinction of being the first one to love and spoil – I was everyone’s princess.

One of the earliest memories, and one that still makes me smile, is taking walks around the neighborhood with Oma.  We’d walk past one house in particular almost every time, and this house had some great lawn ornaments – three slightly smaller than life sized deer.  Oma would point them out and talk about how they were just like our family – there was an Oma Rehlein (little grandmother deer), a mama Rehlein, and a baby Rehlein.

When Oma passed away and we were invited to take whatever we wanted from her condo before the rest was donated or discarded, I chose a little porcelain piece of a of a pair of little seated deer – a mama and baby Rehleins.  It used to sit on an end table at my grandparents’ summer cottage in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  I can very clearly remember when Tony knocked it over and broke off one of the mama’s ears, and Oma swooping in and fixing it.  In any case, it makes me smile every time I glance over to where it sits.  J